Every Man For Himself
by The Werewolf Mage
Summary: The summer between sixth and seventh year. Sirius meets the object of his affection's French dance partner. Needless to say, he spends the rest of the summer plotting how to get rid of him, while James plots on how to get Evans to say yes to a date with
1. Chapter 1

Title: Every Man For Himself

Summary: The summer between sixth and seventh year. Sirius meets the object of his affection's French dance partner. Needless to say, he spends the rest of the summer plotting how to get rid of him, while James plots on how to get Evans to say yes to a date with him.

Note: Pairings have not been decided yet. It'll either be Sirius/OC or no pairings at all. If you want to leave suggestions for that, do so in a review. I do not mind, but I may not listen. Oh, I'm also thinking of Gen giving James a crash course in dancing.

I'm also open for better title suggestions, as we all know I'm not good at titles.

Chapter 1

Three girls were passing the shops of Diagon Alley, laden with shopping bags. As they were shopping for four, they tried to keep the bags balanced. And to keep from falling over. "Let's... take a rest, shall we?" the smallest, a blonde with deep green eyes, said, sinking down at the nearest empty table at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

"Can do." the redhead muttered, tossing her bags on the seat next to her with a sigh, happy to be relieved of her burden. "You know, I think it would be best if we dropped this all off at my place, and come back for the books. What are you doing with that?"

For the brunette had taken out a newspaper clipping, staring at it with a smirk on her face.

"I was hoping that we would run into Black." she sighed, tucking the clipping back in her pocket. "I wanted to rub it in!" she added, catching the look Lily and Marci had exchanged.

"Celeste... do you really think Gwennie wants us to show that to him?" Lily asked with a frown.

"Who cares if she does? " Celeste shrugged. To keep Lily from interrogating her further, she asked, "So, how long did you freak out after you found out you were Head Girl?"

Before Lily could answer, a male voice from behind her asked, "So, you're the Head Girl to my Head Boy, Evans?"

"And what did you want to show me, Helms?"

The three girls stared at the two boys. The boys seemed to be enjoying themselves. Sirius, his hands in his pockets, his black hair falling into his eyes, was as attractive as ever.

James, however, was trying his best not to grin and whoop with excitement. Ignoring the cold glare Lily was shooting in his direction, he repeated Sirius's question.

"This." Celeste muttered, her brown eyes glittering as she watched for Sirius's reaction when he glanced at the bit of paper she thrust into his hands.

James leaned over and glanced at, too.

"Who the bloody hell does he think he is?" Sirius demanded, staring at the paper as though it, and not the young man in the picture, had done him a great injustice.

"Her dance partner." Marci shrugged, her lower lip out in a pout. It was common knowledge that she, along with most of the female population of Hogwarts, except her cousin, Gwendolyn, was madly in love with Sirius.

And he either shunted or used most of them.

"He's a French romantic." Celeste filled in. She soon realized that Lily had not said a word since James and Sirius had shown up. "Though," she added, noticing that Sirius's temper was starting to get the best of him, "I don't think he's her type."

She quickly snatched up her bags, the other two girls quickly following suit, and raced off down the street. Once she was sure they were out of the boys' sight, and earshot, she burst out laughing. "The quiet werewolf is more her type."

"That was terrible, Celeste!" Marci said, stamping her foot and looking hurt. "Did you see his face? I hope you're happy!"

"Oh, I am. That just made my week."

Lily heaved a heavy sigh, which caused the other two to look at her curiously. "What... was Dumbledore thinking?" she asked them, sounding hurt and angry at the same time. "Potter!" she half-shouted upon seeing their confused expressions. "WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD MAKE HIM HEAD BOY?"

"Dumbledore." Celeste answered matter-of-factly.

"Though I'm not too sure he's ever been in his right mind." Marci added with a nod.

The three of them were silent on the walk home. Until they noticed the back of a very familiar person walking ahead of them, her pale blue overly large shoulder bag handing limply at her side as she dragged herself along.

"GWENNIE!"

Immediately the three of them raced to her as she stopped, a faint smile on her lips, as she heard their call.

"Bad practice?" Lily asked, a sympathetic smile on her face.

"More like dreading going home." Gen muttered, brushing a strand of black hair out of her face. "Can I spend the night with you?" she asked Lily. "My father's, ah, in one of his moods."

"Sure." Lily said with a smile. "My parents won't mind. And Petunia's out with -- " she pulled a lovesick expression, her green eyes wide as she batted her eyelashes, her hands clasps near her chest, "-- _Ver-non_. So, she won't be home."

"And your parents don't worry about that?" Marci asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lily shrugged. As long as Petunia wasn't calling her a freak, she was happy. And not to mention her bad imitation of her sister had taken her mind off the news that James was Head Boy. At least, for a little while.

Gen helped carry the bags the girls were struggling with as they all headed to Lily's house, which was closest.

"You didn't get books?" Gen asked her as they sorted through the bags, picking out what belong to who.

"Didn't get the chance." Lily groaned. "We had a bit of a run-in with your favorite person and his very best friend."

"Give James a chance, Lily." Gen muttered. "He really does seem to care about you."

"I could say the same for Sirius and you."

"Well, I don't secretly love Sirius, now do I?" Gen asked with a smirk.

Lily blushed and quickly raced out of the room, glad to hear her mother call her.

"That was terrible, Gen." Marci said. "Though... not as terrible as Celeste was earlier. She showed Sirius that clipping of you and Jacques. Needless to say, he wasn't very happy."

Gen let out a loud groaned, closed her eyes and flopped onto Lily's bed. "Thanks a lot, Celeste. You just made my summer. At least you didn't tell him where I'm taking lessons. Or did you?"

"No, I didn't." Celeste said. Then she began to laugh. "You should have seen his face, though, Gwen! It was classic! And James, too! He wasn't very happy, either. Though he's always had a soft spot for you."

"Because I can play Quidditch." Gen said, rolling her eyes. She scrambled off the bed and followed the other two girls down the hall and to the door, calling after her that she was going to her place for a minute to get a change of clothes and other necessary items for her stay with the Evans family.

Celeste was staying with Marci that evening, so they did not separate until they reached Gen's house. "See you later, Gwennie!" Celeste called.

"Don't call me that!" Gen grumbled, heading up the steps and knocking at the door, hoping her mother would answer. Thankfully, she did. She brushed past her mother with a word of greeting, raced upstairs to her room and dumped her shoulder bag carrying her dance wear and shoes onto the floor. She stuffed it with clothes and any other items she seemed to think needed to go with her while she stayed at Lily's.

"Staying at Lily's, don't wait up!" she called, bounding down the stairs once more and slamming the front door behind her.

Gen waited until she and Lily were in her bedroom, both of them dressed for bed, Gen in her pastel yellow pajamas and Lily in her emerald green pajamas, to talk to her about James. They were supposed to be going to sleep, as her father was not feeling well and was not up to teenage girl chatter. But as long as they spoke in whispers, that would be fine. She hoped.

"Lily?" Gen asked as she stretched herself out on the floor. "Hey, Evans, I'm talking to you! What's the big deal about James being Head Boy?"

"He's an arrogant rule-breaking jerk! How Dumbledore decided on him, I don't think I'll ever know!" With a groan of annoyance, Lily rolled over and faced the wall. But try as she might, she could not block out Gen's next words.

"Oh, come on. I think he's behaved himself quite nicely those last few weeks of school. Instead of the usually five dozen detentions, he only had, what, about five, at the end of the year. And hexing Snape? Yeah, he's laid off on that, too."

"Why don't you get together with him, then?" Lily asked the wall.

"Because!" She heard Gen sit up and flumph her pillow. "He doesn't like me that way. He wants you! So give in! Just one date WON'T kill you. And if it does, I promise I'll stay away from the funeral."

With a shriek of rage and laughter, Lily dove off the bed and began to beat Gen with her pillow. "Yes, it would!" she shrieked. "He's a terrible little git who -- "

"GO TO BED, GIRLS!"

"Yes, Mother!" Lily called, crawling back into bed, laughing as Gen shook feathers from her hair. "We'll continued THAT in the morning."

"Can't." Gen muttered, curling up on the floor, having opted against the camp bed Lily's mother offered her. "Dance lessons."

"Hope Jacques doesn't drop you again." Lily laughed.

"You and me both." Gen muttered, rolling over and falling asleep almost instantly.


	2. Chapter 2

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 2

Sirius was still in a foul mood by the time he and James tossed their purchases on the already cluttered floor of James's bedroom. James, however, had lightened up completely. "So, he's her dance partner! So what? Besides," he added, flopping down on his bed and staring at Sirius, "Gwennie doesn't care about you, so why act so concerned for her? Let's get to planning how we're going to get me and Evans together."

"What does he have that I don't?" Sirius grumbled, apparently not hearing a single word James said.

"A French accent?" James asked, grinning broadly. He began to laugh as Sirius shot him a death glare. "You asked. And besides, you heard Celeste. He's probably not her type."

"Doesn't look like it." Sirius said, staring at the picture once more.

With a sigh of annoyance, James reached over and snatched the clipping from Sirius and crumpled it. "It won't do you any good to stare at it. Now help me, dammit!"

"I wanted that!" Sirius argued. "Did you even take note of what she was wearing?"

"Yes, I did." James muttered, waving his hand in a dismissive manner. He leaned back against the headboard of his bed, and, at that moment, his fat elderly Kneazle headed into the room and hopped onto the bed with a bit of difficulty. "Now are you going to help me with Evans or not?" he asked Sirius, stroking between Figaro's ears.

"Not unless you help me with Moore and this French arse."

James groaned softly. "Sirius, they – are – just – partners! It's nothing to make a fuss about!" Grinning now at his Kneazle, he added, "Figgy'd help me, wouldn't you Fig?"

"Aw, James loves his kitty." Sirius said with a faint grin. Then he shook his head and snatched the clipping from James. "Does this say where they take lessons?"

"He's hopeless." James sighed, getting a knowing meow from Figaro.

"Look who's talking." Sirius grumbled.

"At least I know when to lay off!" James shouted.

"JAMES, STOP YELLING! YOUR MOTHER HAS A HEADACHE!"

"YOU'RE YELLING TOO!"

"DON'T BE SUCH A SMART MOUTH!"

"Ha, ha, James got told." Sirius said in a whisper, his tone smug. James merely stuck his tongue out at him and resumed stroking between Figaro's ears as the Kneazle purred loudly.

"Honestly, James," Sirius continued, a glint in his eyes, "you help me with Gwendolyn, and I'll help you with Evans."

"I doubt it." James sighed, rolling over on his back and staring at Sirius. Figaro meowed loudly and curled up on James's stomach. James groaned and said, "Bloody thing. What have Mum and Dad been feeding you? I swear, you've gained twenty pounds."

"Stop talking about your overly fat cat and plot with me!"

"But I've had Fig for ages! And he's my favorite."

"And I'm your best mate!" Sirius said with a frown. "I thought... I mean more to you than a bloody cat." he added with a fake sob. As James opened his mouth to point something out to him, Sirius dove on the bed, knocking James and Figaro off.

"And besides!" Sirius added, bouncing on the bed like a small child. "Think of the double dates between the four of us!"

"Sirius, I hate to say it," James said, picking himself up off the floor and dusting off his clothes as Figaro, looking very harassed, raced from the room, "but Gwennie just doesn't fancy you. Get over her, mate."

"No! Not until she's away from Frenchy, at least!"

With a frown, James shoved Sirius off his bed and muttered, "I actually happen to know who she does fancy. And it's not -- "

"You WHAT?" Sirius asked, gaping at James. "How long have you known this?" he demanded, not bothering to pick himself up off the floor.

James shrugged and said, "Listen, I can assure you it's not you, and it's not that French boy toy."

"Do we know him?" Sirius demanded.

"Maybe." James said with another shrug. He glanced at the clock and swore under his breath. "Come on, we said we'd help Mum with dinner."

The two did not speak while they helped James's mother prepare dinner. They were also silent while eating. James kept glancing at Sirius, knowing full well that ,between bites, he was planning some way of finding Jacques and getting Gen away from him.

'It's not going to work, mate.' James thought. 'Not until they finish their lessons, or whatever. I don't know about dancing, so I wouldn't know.'

As they got ready for bed, though, Sirius was still silent. Usually, he would be talking to himself, or to James if James were still awake.

James had left the door open a crack for Figaro in case the Kneazle wanted to come in and sleep at the foot of James's bed as he sometimes wanted to. And he wanted in, but instead of getting on James's bed, he curled up on Sirius.

"James?"

"What Sirius?" James mumbled sleepily.

"Could you move the cat, please?"

"Can't, sleeping." James said, rolling over and yawning. He burrowed under the blanket and sighed happily, content to ignore Sirius and Figaro and go to sleep.

"JAMES!" Sirius hissed. "Move the furry animal!"

"You move it." James grumbled.

"I would, but it's sleeping on my arm."

"Well, then, go to sleep." James muttered. "He just wants to sleep on you, it's not like it's going to hurt anything."

Sirius sighed angrily and stared at Figaro, who was fast asleep, as James had said. He was not going to move the Kneazle if it were comfortable, but really! It could have chosen a better place to sleep than his arm!

With Figaro, and James, asleep, though, he leaned back and began to run a plot or two through his head. Though he came to the conclusion that they would not work.

'Remus is better at this kind of logical thinking.' Sirius thought with a yawn. 'Maybe I can get him to help me with it tomorrow. Or whenever we run into him.' Without another thought, Sirius was fast asleep, even with a large Kneazle on his arm.


	3. Chapter 3

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 3

The first thing Jacques did when he saw Gen was promptly apologize again for dropping her. "My apologies, Gwendolyn. We have not done lifts in a while. It was my fault."

She stared at him. She could see why a lot of girls found him attractive. His long honey-ish hair was gorgeous, a lot of women would kill for that color. His blue-grey eyes were sincere. And his build!

But he simply was not her type.

"It's OK." she shrugged. "I was off spot anyway."

"No, no it was my fault!" he said quickly. "You were perfect."

She had to disagree. Her mind was not on the lifts they had practiced, she had not been paying any attention to him or the moves. The result? A painful drop on her ankle. Thankfully, it had not been sprained.

And even more thankfully, her father had not been there to witness it.

What was Jacques saying? "... take you to lunch later?"

"Um..." She had no plans for lunch, other than racing home and raiding the fridge. What harm could come from a quick lunch with Jacques? None she could easily foresee. "Sure."

He smiled and brushing his lips against her hand. "Danielle wants us to watch over the younger children today. She does not wish for you to injure your ankle further."

Gen breathed a sigh of relief. She was rather sore and watching over the younger students would not be too much trouble. Even if they asked her and Jacques to dance for them. 'Just don't let Daddy show up.' she thought miserably.

However, ten minutes into teaching the 12-14 year olds the foxtrot, Gen was counting the minutes until she could get out of there. Half of the girls had crushes on Jacques. And the other half were either impressed with her height or impressed by her dancing.

"You get to dance with Jacques?" a brown haired thirteen year-old asked. She sighed and said, "You're so lucky."

Unfortunately for Gen, Jacques heard. He smiled faintly at Gen returned his attention to the fourteen year-olds he was teaching. They didn't seem to be grasping the dance.

"Gwendolyn, do you think we should show them?"

Gen glanced up at Jacques and shook her head. "Sorry, my ankle hurts really bad." she lied. She had propped herself up against the far wall of the large room and was watching Jacques lazily. He knew what he was doing, she had to give him that. But she did not think the kids would get the dance quicker if they saw them doing it.

"The foxtrot is sort of hard, don't you think?" the brown-haired girl asked. She had stretched out on her stomach, her chin propped up in her hands as she stared at Gen.

"Somewhat." Gen answered. "But it is one of my favorites."

"What's the other?"

"The rumba."

The girl gaped at her, a little pink at the cheeks. "But isn't that...?" Gen nodded and she blushed deeper and raced out of the room.

"What was that all about?" Jacques asked, offering his hand to Gen to help her to her feet. Gen shrugged and glanced at the clock, realizing it was lunch time. She must have spaced out or something. "Where do you want to go?" he asked her, placing a casual arm around her shoulder.

"I don't care. Anywhere." She was very hungry and could care less what they ate. She made to shrug his arm off, but he merely chuckled and pulled her closer.

"Anywhere, you say?"

"Anywhere public." she groaned. "Look, I love your mum, she's really amazing, but I'd rather -- "

He chuckled again and said, "All right, I understand. Let's try that fast food place down the block, then. Unless you are against eating meat?"

"No problems with it." Gen shrugged.

"Wonderful."

The two ate in silence, Gen deep in thought. Jacques, realizing that, did not ask her to voice her thoughts. Instead, he studied her. It was obvious she did not like him like he liked her. He leaned back his hair falling in his face, his arm draped over the back of his chair. He was very interesting in what school she went to.

He only saw her during the summer and felt that that was not enough.

Everytime he questioned her about school, she told him it was none of his business. And he would drop it.

She was constantly mentioning her friends, especially one James Potter. In fact, she had spent once lesson talking about how James was constantly trying to get her friend, Lily, to go out with him. And how he was always in detention.

That really did not make Jacques happy. But he did not question her friendship with James.

"Hey!" He was brought back to reality by Gen snapping her fingers in his face. "You've been daydreaming again, Jacques. Come on, we've got to get back before Danielle kills us or something."

"She won't." he grinned.

"Well, YOU she won't! Did you even see her face when you dropped me?"

He shook his head. They were silent on their walk back. Silent until they ran into two people Gen really did not want to run into.

She groaned softly and hung her head as James and Sirius blocked their way down the sidewalk. "Afternoon, Gwendolyn. How's it going?" Sirius asked, seeming to ignore Jacques when he was actually studying him.

"Yeah, Gwennie, how's it going?" James asked sweetly. "Nice to see you, it really is."

"Cut the act guys. What do you want, anyway?" Gen asked with a weary sigh. "Why are you even around here?"

"Why Gwendolyn! We just wanted to say hello to one of our dearest friends." Sirius began sweetly. "It's nice to see you outside of school." He turned to James and said, "Ah, James, look at her. She doesn't want to see us."

"You're right, mate. Let's go."

As they turned to leave, Jacques said, "So YOU'RE James? I've heard a lot about you."

"Funny," James began, turning back to Jacques. "I haven't heard a thing about you."

Jacques turned to Gen. She was looking away from all three of them, frowning. So, she would openly discuss James and had not mentioned him to her other friends at all?

Sirius was openly smirking at the shock and anger on Jacques's face. 'Nice one, James.' he thought. 'Really nice.'

He opened his mouth to reply, but Gen had grabbed Jacques's arm and said, "Jacques, we really have to hurry back. YOU can be late, but I swear Danielle will have my head!"

Sirius watched them leave with a scowl on his face. Which James immediately noticed. "Hey, we made him mad. And we know where they are now. I wonder if Evans ever goes with her."

"I doubt it." Sirius muttered. "Want to follow them?"

"No, I'm sure Gwendolyn would kill us." James frowned.

"Yes, we've done our mischief for the day." Sirius said, thrusting his hands in his pockets.

And by 'mischief' they had made Gen's day even worse. Jacques was now refusing to speak to her. "Great, a silent dance partner.' Gen thought with a scowl as she grabbed her bag at the end of the lesson. 'Maybe he'll drop me on purpose now.'

She was tempted to go look for Jame and give him a piece of her mind. Instead, she merely dragged herself home, desperately wanting a nap.


	4. Chapter 4

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 4

James and Sirius were still shocked with their run-in with Gen and Jacques. "That was luck." Sirius muttered, his hands in his pockets, as the two of them headed back to James's that evening.

"No," James grinned, "THIS is luck."

A little ways ahead of them, a familiar redhead and her dark-haired friend were struggling with a few shopping bags.

With a wink, James raced ahead of Sirius. "You know," he said, casually tossing an arm over Lily's shoulder, "you girls shouldn't be out after dark."

"Why?" Lily said, removing James's arm with disgust. "Because of creeps like you?"

James chose to ignore that part. "Well, at least let me carry some of that."

"Yeah, Gwendolyn, Lily," Sirius said, panting slightly as he joined them. "Let us help, at least."

Lily looked at Gen, obviously near panic. The two of them had offered to go to the grocery store to pick up a few things for her mother and she did not want James anywhere near her house.

Luckily for her, Gen chimed up with, "No, thank you. My house is just down the street. We'll be fine. Why don't you go find some other poor, defenseless women you can prey on, hmm?"

"Aw, Gwen, we're just offering to help." James sighed.

Beside him, Lily breathed a very obvious sigh of relief. They could hide out at Gen's for a little while. Or Gen could attempt to Apparate with Lily and the groceries. That would be less likely to happen.

Behind them, they once again heard the sound of racing footsteps. It was Jacques.

"Again?" Gen asked, turning to Lily, a look of feigned shock on her face before Jacques could speak. "What is it us and attracting guys tonight? Do we look like damsels in distress or something?"

"Actually," Jacques began, also panting, "I just wanted to apologize for this afternoon. I am sorry if I came off a bit... short with you, Gwendolyn." He was acting as though James and Sirius weren't there.

"And," he continued, "practice has been canceled for tomorrow. Danielle has to go out of town for her sister's wedding."

It was Gen who now breathed the obvious sigh of relief. Until she caught the look Sirius was giving Jacques, and the look Jacques was returning. "Um..." she shifted the bags to her other hand. "We really have to get back or Lily will be having dinner for breakfast. See you boys later!"

The two girls raced off, only stopped once they had turned a corner. "Oh, geez, you really think we should have left them? Knowing Sirius, you're going to be out of a dance partner in the morning."

"You know, part of me wouldn't mind being out of a partner." With a laugh, she added, "Really, I've been neglecting you guys ever since we got back from Hogwarts. And don't say I haven't!"

"I wasn't going to say you have." Lily said with a smile. "Though Celeste and Marci might have to disagree with me."

"Yeah, you're right. I've been staying at your house. But the other two..." she trailed off with a sigh.

The two of them were on Lily's front porch by then. Gen did not have the chance to continue. Lily's mother hurried out of the door, fussing that they were late, dinner might be ruined, but between that, she was also saying she was worried and thought something bad had happened to them.

"We're OK, Mum, really!" Lily said exasperatedly. "We just met up with some, ah, people."

"They're not people!" Gen argued. "Well, yeah, they are." She turned to Lily's mother and said, "We ran into Jacques, and a couple of boys from school."

"'Boys' is right." Lily grumbled. "They act like children!"

Without another word, Lily's mother ushered them upstairs to wash up before dinner. "AND COME BACK DOWN HERE TO HELP!" she called after them.

"We planned on it!" Lily called back.

"Children?" Gen demanded of her once they were upstairs. She scoffed and said, "SIRIUS is the one who acts like a child!"

"James is spoiled!" Lily pointed out.

"James has a reason to be spoiled!" Gen shot back.

"Oh, I forget," Lily said with a scowl, "you always give James the benefit of the doubt just because he takes up for you! And the only reason he does THAT is because he knows you'll quit the team if he doesn't!"

"No," Gen began calmly, drying her hands on the nearby towel, "the reason he takes up for me is because he actually cares about me. And he would for you if you gave him the time of day! In fact, he has already!"

Lily merely frowned at her and headed back downstairs.

"Jealous much?" Gen asked in a whisper as she joined Lily on the stairs.

"I am not." Lily hissed. "I've got more to worry about than James Potter! In fact, YOU take him. I think you two would make the perfect Quidditch couple."

"Only if you take Black off my hands." Gen giggled.

For a moment, Lily looked as though she were about to say something else, but she smiled faintly and said, "I'd rather deal with him than Potter. At least he can act NORMAL every once and a while."

"Oh, yeah. On the verge of stalking is normal." Gen said, rolling her eyes.

The two of them were still giggling by the time they joined her mother in the kitchen. "Finally!" her mother groaned. "I was beginning to think you two were avoiding me!"

The two girls joined her, Lily chopping vegetables and Gen rummaging through the cabinets and keeping an eye on the pots on the stove. The girls would have to continue their conversation later. Like when Lily's mother wasn't around.

Though, Gen did manage to continue what she was saying on the porch. "I was thinking maybe a pajama party or something. You know, to show you guys I'm not purposely avoiding you. At my place, of course. Or Marci's, if my dad's around."

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea." Lily smiled. "We'll have to run it by the girls tomorrow. Now it's too late. Unless...?" she trailed off, looking hopefully at her mother.

"Not tonight, no. Your father had the car and he's getting home late. Unless you want to ask Vernon when he brings Petunia home?"

"I'll pass." Lily grumbled, not paying attention and nicking her finger. She stuck her bleeding finger in her mouth and rolled her eyes at Gen behind her mother's back right as a car pulled into the driveway. "Please, please don't let Mum invite him to stay!" Lily pleaded.

"Yeah, I think I might have to go home." Gen whispered.

"And I'll go with you!"

Gen laughed and whispered, "I think you would spend the night with Potter if you had to."

"You know I would! I HATE Vernon! I cannot stand him! And the way he eats! It's – it's -- " she fake vomited into the largest pot on the stove. Gen roared with laughter.

Petunia, standing in the doorway, stared at the both of them. "It wouldn't be very funny if it were your boyfriend and I was the one acting like a child!" she shrieked. "And I'll have you know that I just dropped by for a second to tell Mum and Dad that Vernon and I were going to the movies and we'd probably get back a little late."

Without another word, she turned on her heel and strode out the door. Gen looked at Lily and burst into peals of laughter. "Wow, Vernon sure has changed her attitude, hasn't he?"

"Eh, she's going to be one of those housewives who constantly clean to hide how dead inside she feels whenever her husband touches her." Lily laughed.

"Oh, that's a mental image I could have done without." Gen shuddered, returning her attention to the pots.

"Same here." Lily giggled. Having finished the vegetables, she hopped onto the counter and watched Gen with feigned interest. "Getting off the subject of how horrid that thought was," she began, flicking a bit of carrot at Gen, "tell me something. Why do you use Potter as your confidante?"

"Well," Gen began softly, "to be honest, you're usually off being the center of attention and the other two are off either brooding or trying to get a little bit of the attention you're getting. James, no matter how arrogant you think he is, is actually a rather caring person."

"Then why does he act like an idiot around me?" Lily huffed.

"Because he fancies you, of course!"

"Being an idiot is not the way to get my attention." Lily grumbled, hopping off the counter to search for her parents, who were still outside with Petunia and Vernon.

"And I've tried telling him that." Gen said to the pots. "I swear, they belong together. I might just have to join on the get-Lily-together-with-James bandwagon."


	5. Chapter 5

Every Man For Himself

Note: God, I love you guys, too. I've gotten, like, no reviews in the past three days. You guys are my best friends, too.

And who says she's going to help?

Chapter 5

"Oh, come ON, Gwennie! It's going to be fun! You've got the day off and Marci's parents have agreed to let us all stay there! And they've got a pool." Lily pointed out.

Gen merely groaned for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning. The two of them were walking to Marci's place, their overnight bags swung over their shoulders.

"Why are you against it? It's not like Potter knows where Marci's house is!"

"But they've been showing up everywhere!" Gen said with yet another groan.

"Trust me, they won't! And if they do, well, you can throw Black in the pool."

That put a smile on Gen's face. "I haven't thrown him in a pool yet, have I?" Gen asked, shifting her bag to her other shoulder.

"Nope! Just the lake."

The two were still giggling by the time they arrived at Marci's house. Marci's mother smiled warmly at them both and told them they could put their things away in Marci's room and that the other two were already outside by the pool.

As they passed the living room, they heard Marci's father muttered, "FOUR teenage girls, Isabella? I think I might just have to stay at Anthony's tonight."

Which only made them giggle harder.

Upstairs, they quickly changed into their swimsuits, Gen's, a pale blue one piece, and Lily's, an emerald green bikini.

STILL giggling, they raced back downstairs and outside, with Gen only pausing to brush a kiss atop her Uncle Jared's head. She quickly realized she had never done that to her father. Shaking the thought from her head, she joined the others outside.

Celeste was lounging, her bikini a pale pink. While Marci, in a yellow tankini, floated about the pool on one of those plastic pool rafts. Celeste was just about to say something when Gen put her fingers to her lips, slipped into the pool and tipped her cousin's raft over.

"GWENNIE!" Marci shrieked, shaking her sodden hair out of her face. "What was that for?"

"We thought you two were going to stand us up." Celeste said casually, glancing at Lily.

"Gwennie was about to. Until I convinced her that if Black and Potter showed up, she could throw Black into the pool."

In the pool, Marci blushed deeply about the thought of Sirius catching her in a bikini. "You can HAVE him!" Gen shrieked, splashing her cousin.

The two of them were soon involved in what appeared to be a drowning match.

Lily rolled her eyes at Celeste, who quickly rolled her eyes back. "Those two." Celeste sighed. "Sometimes, I think they're never going to grow up."

"Me either." Lily giggled. "You think we should intervene before they wind up killing each other?"

Celeste shook her head. "No, this is too funny."

"What are they doing?" Isabella asked, shaking her head as she watched her niece and daughter attempt to drown each other.

"We're not entirely sure." Celeste shrugged. "But it's kind of funny."

Isabella sighed softly and said, "I was going to tell you four it's nearly lunchtime. Are you going to eat out here or inside? If you go inside, you're going to have to change out of your suits. Especially those two. I don't want my clean floors soaked."

"We'll eat out here, Mum." Marci called before Gen dunked her under the water once more.

Celeste and Lily finally managed to get the two of them out of the pool. They sat nibbling their lunch in silence.

Silent until Celeste piped up with, "So, Gwennie, how have lessons been with your French boy toy?"

"He dropped me. Then James and Sirius decided to show up. I'd rather be at home with my dad than with Jacques half the time." Gen muttered. Pausing, her glass of butterbeer to her lips, she then demanded, "Since when have you lot called me 'Gwennie'?"

"Since we heard Potter call you that." Marci shrugged.

"Speaking of which," Celeste began, giving Gen a look that clearly said 'you're in so much trouble', "we're all really hurt that you would rather talk to Potter than with us! If I hadn't have overheard you telling him you fancy Lupin, we probably would have never found out!"

Lily and Marci nodded in agreement.

"And why does HE not get in trouble when he calls you 'Gwennie'?" Lily asked.

Gen merely shrugged. She did not feel like starting a row between herself and the other girls. To Marci and Lily, that was obvious. Celeste, however, looked ready to continue.

Instead of waiting to listen to her, Gen picked up her plate and glass and headed into the kitchen. Isabella managed a weak smile before saying, "Your mother called. Your father wants you home tonight. He's got some kind of meeting -- "

"Call her back and tell her I'm not going." Gen muttered.

Without another word to her aunt, Gen headed upstairs and changed out of her bathing suit and sank down on Marci's bed. 'Trust him to ruin it.' Gen thought sourly.

Her sour mood did not change as the other three girls joined her. "Hey, Gwen, want to go shopping?" Marci asked softly, crawling on the bed next to her cousin. Her mother had told the three of them what had happened, and, immediately understanding, the three of them raced upstairs to try to calm Gen down.

"Going shopping," Gen snapped, "would involve going home for my money."

"I could pay." Marci whispered. "Or we can go to a movie, our treat."

"I'd rather not."

"Hey, come on. Lighten up. Don't let him get to you." Celeste muttered, joining Gen and Marci on the bed. "He's just a bastard, Gwennie. We all know that. He's just trying to spoil your time. And letting him get to you is letting him win. And I thought you didn't want that."

"I don't!" Gen spat. She shook her head, blinking back tears. "I'm going for a walk."

"Want us to -- ?"

"No."


	6. Chapter 6

Every Man For Himself

Note: Ah, OK, people. Since the girls have had their slumber party, the boys get one next chapter. I promise.

Chapter 6

Gen, not watching where she was going, her hands thrust into the pockets of her shorts, her eyes downcast, only slowed down when she was sure she was a few blocks away from Marci's house. 'It's not fair.' she thought sullenly.

In sheer desperation, she fished through her pockets. A bit pleased, she pulled out what she knew was enough for a small banana split from Florean.

"Of course!" she said, smacking her forehead with her palm. "Dad would never, ever set foot in Diagon Alley. Stupid me."

A few minutes later, she was settled at an outside table of the ice cream parlour, happily nibbling away at her banana split. Florean had joined her.

"Terribly sorry about that, Gwendolyn." he said softly. "I could use some help around here, if you'd like to get out of the house?"

"I wouldn't mind, but I've been having dance lessons to get out of the house." Gen jabbed moodily at her ice cream. "Besides," she added with a forced smile, "I'd just spend my pay on ice cream."

Florean shook his head with a smile as he got to his feet. "That you would." He bade her good-bye as he headed back into the parlour to deal with his other customers.

Gen finished her ice cream and decided to take to haunting the shops until she felt better. Or until she ran into someone she knew and could carry on a conversation with them for more than two seconds.

And she did find a couple people she knew and could carry on a conversation with in the Quidditch supply shop. "You reckon I should ask Mum for a new broom?" James asked, bending over and examining the new Nimbus model.

"James, you just got a new one last year." Remus pointed out. To Gen, it was obvious he really would like to be anywhere else.

"Yes, but Mummy wouldn't deny her darling James anything." Sirius also pointed out.

"And that's exactly why Lily doesn't like you." Gen hissed, making all three of them jump.

"Gwennie! What are you up to?" James asked, ignoring her comment and acting as though he had just spotted her.

"What do you think I'm up to?" Gen spat, her arms crossed over her chest as she glared at the Nimbus behind James.

"Looking for me?" Sirius joked. "You've come to confess your undying love for me and that you're going to kick Frenchy to the curb?"

"Not even in your dreams." Gen spat.

"That's not what you were saying last night." Sirius teased.

James got between the two of them, gave Sirius a warning glare and asked, "Your dad's being a prat again, isn't he?"

"Oh, aren't you smart?" Gen demanded. Then she sighed and muttered a quick apology.

"Hey, it's fine." James muttered. At her disbelieving look, he added, "Your dad is, like, the git from hell, OK? It's completely understandable."

He grinned at the other two and tossed an arm over her shoulder. "Come on..." he teased. "Cheer up. I'll buy you an ice cream."

"No, thank you." Gen said, a faint smile playing at her lips. "I just had lunch... and a banana split. I'm pretty stuffed."

"Fine then! I'll buy me an ice cream! And Sirius and Remus if they want one. But you're staying with us. I don't want you going back around your place, or Marci's for that matter, alone."

"I'm a big girl, James." Gen said, trying not to laugh now.

"He's right, though." Remus said softly. "If you don't want to stay with us, at least let one of us go with you."

"I'll do it!" Sirius offered immediately. Gen glanced at him and took a step closer to James, looking wary and somewhat disgusted. "Oh, don't be that way. I'll be a gentleman, I promise."

She still looked unsure of him.

"I'll stay three feet away from you if you want." Sirius said softly.

Gen bit her lip. On one hand, it would be nice instead of going alone. On the other, he would definitely tell James where Marci's house was, giving away one of Lily's last remaining hiding places.

"I can go alone." she said finally. "Hey," she added, catching the look James and Remus exchanged, "guys, come on. I'm of age now. I can handle it, if worse comes to worse."

"I forgot about that." James frowned. He and the other two waved as she left the store.

"What did you mean..." Remus began slowly, "about her dad being, ah, the git from hell? And who's Frenchy?"

"Remus, mate," Sirius began, clapping his hand on Remus's back, causing Remus to wince, "we've got to fill you in. See if it's OK with your parents to spend the night at James's place and we will. And see if you can round up Peter on the way." With a grin at James, he added, "I think it's going to take all four of us to figure out how we're going to handle this."


	7. Chapter 7

Every Man For Himself

Note: Hmm, a Jacques only chapter?

Chapter 7

James was sprawled out in his father's easy chair, Sirius had taken over the couch, and Remus and Peter were stretched out on the floor. Remus looked torn between sighing and calling Sirius hopeless and demanding that James talk to Gen, to make sure she stayed away from her father.

Before he could say anything, the was a loud meow and a groan of pain as Figaro jumped onto the couch and curled up on Sirius's chest.

"I hate this cat." Sirius muttered, though he had begun to stroke between Figaro's ears.

"Almost as much as you hate Frenchy?" James asked sweetly.

"How do you know where she's taking lessons?" Peter asked, looking warily at James's so-called attack Kneazle. It looked as though the only thing Figaro could do would be squish someone to death. But then again, when it came to James, he could not be so sure.

"We ran into them." Sirius said matter-of-factly over Figaro's purring.

"You ran into them, or you were looking for them?" Remus demanded with a scowl. "Because, knowing you, you're not going to 'accidentally' run into Gwendolyn Moore."

"It was a little bit of both, actually." James said, swinging his legs over the arm of the chair. "And it's really hard to stop Sirius from barging in on their lessons."

Sirius grumbled something that they could not quite understand over Figaro's purring. But they got the idea of it.

"Why don't you like him?" Remus asked, stretching out on his back and staring at the ceiling. "It's not like he's done anything to you, personally. And, before you ask, no I'm not going to help you if you try anything."

"I didn't ask you." Sirius muttered.

"I did!" James grinned. "Remus are you going to help me with Evans?"

Remus did not answer straight away. "I suppose I have no choice." he began slowly. "As long as it's not too dangerous. Or it doesn't involve a love potion."

"Evans is way too smart to fall for a love potion." James pointed out.

"But Moore isn't." Sirius pointed out.

"Like you'd give her one." Peter muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, if it'd get her away from Frenchy..." Sirius trailed off with a scowl as Figaro got up, stretched, and began to flex his claws on Sirius's stomach. Thankfully, James had clipped his claws earlier, so it didn't hurt as much as it tickled.

"Why don't you just hook up with her cousin?" Peter asked. "Or, for that matter, any other girl at Hogwarts who finds you attractive?"

"Yeah, remind me NOT to take romantic advice from you." Sirius said, grabbing his pillow and tossing it at Peter. And laughing as it smacked him in the face, feathers flying everywhere.

"Ooh, Mum's not going to be too happy if she sees what you did..." James began in a teasing voice.

"Moony, fix it, please."

With a groan of annoyance, Remus pulled out his wand, muttered "_Reparo!", _and silently handed Sirius his pillow.

"Don't you love being of age, Remus?" James asked casually, flicking a feather that did not find its way back into the pillow off the arm of the chair.

Remus frowned at him and asked, "So what are your plans for Evans?"

"Well," James began innocently, "for one, it looks as though my pranking days are over. I don't know why she hates that. Most of the girls think my pranks are funny."

"Well, most pranks, anyway." Sirius said. "Moore loves them. Though she hates it when I'm doing any kind of prank."

"Miss Moore has even egged me on a couple of times." James laughed. "And Evans wasn't too happy with her then."

Figaro hopped off of Sirius and waddled his fat self over to Peter. A sniff at his shoe. No, he didn't want Peter. He cocked his head and looked at Remus. Maybe. Then, with a bit of difficulty, he scrambled onto the chair with James.

"Well, fine, I don't want you anyway. Dumb old cat." Sirius muttered.

James grinned at his beloved Kneazle. He waited until Figaro made himself comfortable, then sighed and said, "It'll be hard, you know. Giving up pranks."

"I don't think it's the pranks so much as the random hexing of your classmates." Remus said, ending with a yawn. "Maybe you should try to lay that off completely. The pranks, I'm sure as long as they're mild, and Evans doesn't see them, you could away with them."

"Gee, Moony, are you implying something?" James asked innocently. "Because it sounds like it, doesn't it, Wormtail?"

"Sure does." Peter agreed, although he wasn't too sure of what he was agreeing on.

"Yeah," Sirius said, sitting up and grinning at Remus, "it seems like you would be at a loss without James and his pranks. I always thought you hated them."

"I didn't say that." Remus began sleepily. "I just said -- "

"You'd be lost, admit it." James smirked. "No WONDER you never, ah, "exercised control" as a Prefect." He even did the quote-y fingers.

"OK, fine. Some of them were pretty fun. But not what Sirius did." He gave Sirius a glare before yawning again.

"I apologized!" Sirius whined. "Come on, you're the forgiving type!"

Remus said nothing. For a moment or two, it seemed as though he were ignoring Sirius. A closer looked revealed he had fallen asleep. 

"Poor Moony." James said softly. "Guess we'd better follow his lead, huh?"

"Guess so." James's mother was grinning at the four of them from the living room doorway. "Good night, boys."

They muttered their good nights and settled in before Peter's snoring filled the room. James curled up with Figaro, his breathing, too, became soft and even. Sirius frowned. He had wanted to stay awake a bit longer. But he curled up and he, too, soon drifted off to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Every Man For Himself

Note: Anyone feel like naming Jacques's mother? I have a few in mind, but I shall see.

Chapter 8

The night the boys were sleeping over at James's, Jacques found himself stretched out on his bed, staring at the ceiling. His mind, of course, was on Gwendolyn.

Ever since they had ran into those boys after lunch, she had been a been wary, even scared at times. Why would that be? The way she rambled on and on about James, he knew, or at least was almost sure, that is wasn't because of him.

It had to be that other boy.

Who obviously did not like him because of the fact that he danced with Gwendolyn. And who obviously had some feelings for her as well.

Frankly, Jacques could care less if he ever saw either of them again. But if they showed up during a lesson, well, he might just have to do something about that.

His thoughts were interrupted by the door flying open and his little sister Anabelle racing into the room and diving on top of him. Ignoring his groan of pain, he said, "Mother is having another boyfriend over for dinner tonight. She wants you to call -- " she pulled a lovesick face " -- _Gwendolyn _and see if she comes over, too."

"I tried calling her earlier." Jacques said irritably. "She's not home and her mother and father are not very happy with that."

"Oh." Anabelle sighed faintly. "I'd rather have her here than another one of Mother's boyfriends. They're so gross and creepy."

Jacques hesitated only slightly before hugging his little sister. There was no denying they had the same father, at least. They had the same honey hair, the same blue-grey eyes, the same straight nose, and the same hatred for their mother's boyfriends.

"You want to go see if we can find her?" Anabelle asked, glancing up at Jacques. She adored her brother, almost as much as she had her other brother, who left home when he was fourteen.

She was glad Jacques stayed with them. She wasn't sure how she was going to handle her mother alone.

"Wherever she is, I'm sure she's fine." Jacques murmured faintly. He managed a small smile before asking, "So, who's the lucky jerk tonight?"

"Some stuck up business man." Anabelle said, rolling her eyes and smiling. "Come on, let's go meet the catch of the night."

She giggled as she took her older brother's hand and led him into the kitchen, where their mother, her dark hair nothing like her children's, though they had inherited their blue-grey eyes from her, was talking to a tall, somewhat handsome man, who obviously younger than her.

The two of them glanced up as they heard Jacques and Anabelle enter the room, Anabelle trying her best to stifle her giggles.

"Jacques, nice to meet you." he said, his voice surprisingly soft. "Saw your picture in the paper, lad. Does you no justice. I'm sure your mother is proud of you."

Before Jacques could answer, his mother asked, "Jacques did you manage to call Gwendolyn? I would love to have her over."

"Gwendolyn?" the man asked, looking confused for a second. "That would be Gwendolyn Moore, wouldn't it?" At Jacques nod, he said, "I work with her father, nice girl. Very nice."

"To answer your question, Mother, I did call, but she wasn't home."

"Probably at that little deal at Lockhart's place, with her parents."

"No," Jacques said, glaring at his mother's date for the evening, "her father answered. He did not go because he could not find her."

"Ah, teens will be teens."

Jacques and Anabelle gave each other what their mother called 'that look'. It was agreed that neither of them liked this man and never wanted him back again.

A few minutes later and they were settled at the table. Anabelle watched as her mother and this man, for whom they did not care for at all, not even enough to learn his name, got into deep conversation. "Jacques," she began softly, trying her sweetest expressions, "may I have just one sip of your wine? Please?"

Jacques nodded, sliding his glass to his little sister.

"Worried about Gwendolyn?" she asked, being true to her word, only taking one sip and sending the glass back to her brother.

"I am." he muttered.

As she normally did, their mother waited until after her date of the evening left before asking her children, "Well, what did you think?"

"I don't like him." Anabelle said at once. She crossed her arms over chest and stuck her tongue out.

"He was better than the one who treated you like a two-year-old." Jacques pointed out. "But I'll have to agree with Belle on this one."

"Oh, you two," she sighed, grinning at her honey-haired children. "You two will never like anyone I bring home, will you?"

Jacques and Anabelle looked at each other before answering, "No."

Jacques managed a sympathetic smile for his mother before heading to his room. "Mother, I'm going to try to reach Gwendolyn again before I got to bed. Good night."

"Good night, Jacques." She turned to her daughter. "And you should be in bed, too."

"Mother!" Anabelle whined.

"You may stay up if he talks to Gwendolyn. If he doesn't, bed. If he does, you can talk to her for a little while."

Unfortunate for Anabelle, Gen still was not home. Grumbling, she dragged herself to bed, the only thing making her feel better was Jacques' promise to take her with him in the morning.


	9. Chapter 9

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 9

Sirius had managed to persuade a sleepy Remus, a very sleepy James, and a somewhat reluctant Peter to wander about with him, in hopes of catching Gen at a lesson, or out and about.

And spot her he did. Along with Lily and a small, honey-haired little girl who looked about six or seven years of age. No doubt she was Jacques's younger sister.

But that did not stop him from asking, "That one yours, Gwen? Boy they age fast, don't they?"

Gen gave him the look she usually reserved just for him before saying, "No, she belongs to Jacques." Catching sight of James and Remus, she scowled at Sirius and said, "And you woke them up to come find me? Some friend you are."

Remus's response was a yawn. James looked as though he were tempted to curl up on the sidewalk and go to sleep.

"Take them back now." Gen demanded.

Anabelle nodded eagerly from behind Gen. Lily was torn between agreeing with Gen and just leaving them all there and walking away as fast as she could.

But Sirius could reply, they heard hurried footsteps as Jacques joined them. It was obvious he was trying his best to ignore the four Marauders. "Gwendolyn," he began quickly, trying his best to catch his breath. "Gwendolyn, we need to hurry."

"Danielle can wait." Gen said impatiently. She turned her attention back to the boys and said, "Go on. Apparently Sirius wants to break a few stalker laws but you lot should be in bed. It's very early."

"Oh, going to get your father after me?" Sirius asked with a smirk. "Dear Daddy going to protect darling Gwendolyn?"

She glared at him before turned on her heel and hurrying away. Jacques, Anabelle, and Lily quickly followed after her.

"Come on." Sirius told the other three. "Shall we follow them?"

"You're going to anyway." Remus said with a sleepy yawn.

A few minutes later, Sirius was pushing the glass doors open of a large studio. Seeing no one who could help them, Sirius was tempted to say they should split up. Until a now wide-awake James politely shoved them into the nearest room, which turned out to be a janitor closet.

"What was that for?" Sirius hissed angrily as the mop fell onto his head.

"That!" James hissed. He had left the door open a tiny crack and was glancing out, his eyes following Anthony Moore as he briskly strode down the hall.

"'That' is her dad?" Sirius asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Remus asked hotly. He was watched between James and the wall and was very uncomfortable.

"Yeah, just a bit." Peter said, trying his best to catch a glimpse of Anthony Moore.

Anthony had paused, thinking he was hearing something coming from the closet. He then shrugged and continued down the hall. It wasn't like anyone could be hiding in there. That was just silly.

The four boys waited about ten minutes before spilling out of the closet. Poor Sirius and his mop landed on the bottom of the heap. 

"Well," James said, haphazardly tossing random cleaning supplies back into the closet, "are we going or not?"

"I don't know." Sirius began timidly, disentangling himself from the mop and unceremoniously tossing it into the closet.

"Intimidated?" James asked smugly.

"A tiny bit, yeah! Did you see how big he was?"

"Well, you dragged us here." Remus said, his toe very annoyed now. "So let's go, if you're so determined."

"I didn't think her dad would be here." Sirius said, trying to catch his heels on the floor as James and Remus, very angry with him for disrupting their sleep, began to drag him down the hall, going the way they had hoped Anthony Moore had gone.

Peter walked behind them, torn between amusement and agreeing with Sirius. Anthony Moore was a pretty big guy.

The first thing they spotted as they rounded the corner was Lily and Anabelle watching Gen and Jacques, who were deeply engrossed with their very complicated foxtrot, with interest. And Anthony was off to the side, speaking to a woman who did not look that much older than them.

"I assure you, Mister Moore, that your money is not going to waste." she said hotly.

A second glance at Lily and Anabelle proved that they were eavesdropping.

"Her timing is off." Anthony spat, watching his daughter, a frown on his face.

"Her timing is wonderful!" Danielle said, starting to lose her patience with Anthony Moore. "If anything, Jacques is going a bit too fast!" She glanced over at Gen and Jacques again and shouted, "Jacques, slow down!"

"He dropped her, too, didn't he?" Anthony spat. "Don't you think she needs a new partner?"

"He is closest to her height. And he is usually very careful with her. That was an accident." She paused before saying, "Let me remind you that if you take her out of lessons now, you will not be getting a refund. It's far too late for that."

Without another word, she strode across the room and joined Gen and Jacques.

The four boys took off before Anthony could spot them.

"Well, we know what he really loves, don't we?" Sirius panted as, a couple blocks away, the four of them stopped to catch their breath.

"Not his daughter, for sure. But lucky for you, Sirius, I don't think he likes Jacques, either."


	10. Chapter 10

Every Man for Himself

Chapter 10

The other three girls were spending a very long afternoon in Lily's bedroom, trying to calm down one very angry Gwendolyn Moore. "What the hell would your dad want with you?" Celeste asked, watching Gen pace the length of the room. "Besides, it's not like he'd have done anything in public. Or around the Marauding Idiots."

Gen's irritation pushed the part about the Marauders out of her head. "What else would my dad want? He's pissed with me for missing that little grope-fest."

Marci sighed softly and whispered to Lily, "Do you think it would be better to get her somewhere where she could rant in peace? There's no telling if Petunia is lurking around."

"Let's leave that for whenever she gets louder." Lily whispered back.

"Aw, come now, Gwennie, you should be PROUD that filthy, drunk lawyers want to fondle you." Celeste giggled. She received a pillow in the face for Gen's answer. "I was just trying to cheer you up! At least it's not Black." she pointed out, fluffing the pillow and sticking it behind her back.

"I would rather him than them." Gen muttered, folding her arms over her chest and glaring out the window.

"Aw, cheer up, Gwennie. You've just got this summer and then you probably won't have to deal with him anymore." Lily pointed out.

"Yeah!" Celeste said, getting to her feet. "You know, all four of us could get together and chip in, get a house big enough for all of us."

"No offense, but after spending seven years with you guys, I'd rather have a small loft to myself." Gen said, wearily sinking down on Lily's bed.

"Or with Remus." Celeste teased.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind that." Gen giggled. "But come on, guys," she began, her tone becoming miserable, "that probably won't happen."

"Yes, it will!" Lily giggled, jumping onto the bed and nearly knocking Gen off. "Unless you give into Sirius Black."

"Yeah," Marci sighed wistfully. "He could do a great job of taking care of Gwennie, like you need to be taken care of."

"Yes, well, Gwendolyn Moore is not built to have thirty children." Gen said, bristling.

"Oh, that would only happen if you married a Weasley." Celeste giggled. "And somehow, I don't see that happening. If one DOES come after you, be wary, Gwennie. They might just be after the Moore money."

"That's harsh, Celeste." Marci said, frowning at her. "They are really nice people, even IF they aren't, well, up to Gwen's standards."

"Yes, well, Gwennie," Gen said, referring to herself once more in third person as she sat up and stared at them all, "will probably not get any of the Moore money if my loving father has anything to do with it."

"Oh, he won't. He loves his little Gwennie-lyn." Celeste smirked.

"Uh-huh. If that's his way of showing love, I'd hate to be on his bad side."

Gen got to her feet, stretched, and glanced at the clock on the desk. "Do you think he'll be back at work now? I need to go home and get a few things."

"We can go with you, just in case." Marci offered, immediately getting to her feet.

"No, that's OK." Gen muttered, slipping on her shoes and rushing out of the bedroom without another word to the other three.

Celeste began to shake her head slowly. "Poor Gwennie. Wish there was something we could do for her. But she would much rather be stubborn."

"She gets that from her dad." Marci giggled. Then she sighed once more. "I don't understand it. They're so much alike it's not funny."

"Who, Gwennie and her dad?" Celeste asked, practically ignoring them as she rummaged through Lily's make-up, looking for a specific bottle of pale purple nail polish.

"No, Gwennie and a random stranger." Lily said bitterly. "And I'll thank you not to go through my things."

"I was just -- " Celeste began, finally finding the bottle of nail polish she wanted. "-- looking for this."

Marci and Lily rolled their eyes as Celeste slipped off her shoes and began to polish her toenails. "Well, Celeste is going to ignore us now." Lily began, scowling. "But you are right, Marci. It makes no sense for her dad to be that way. They're just alike in almost every way."

"Well, Gwennie's dad is mad because his darling daughter is just that." Celeste said, attempting to blow her hair out of her face as she finished with the toes on her right foot.

The other two stared at her. Firstly, they had not been expecting her to pay attention. And secondly, and much more surprising, they did not think that she really cared about Gen's home life.

"What do you mean?" Marci asked, her eyebrows nearly meeting in confusion.

Celeste let out a groan of annoyance and asked, "Isn't it obvious? Her dad wanted a son. And Gwen, no matter how... how shall I say this? Erm, underdeveloped she looks, she is still a girl."

"Wow, Celeste," Lily breathed, "where did you learn that little tidbit?"

Celeste shrugged and said, "I called her one night and he was ranting about it."

"He is terrible." Marci said softly, grabbing the nearest pillow and hugging it tightly. "Do you guys think... that maybe, if Gen gets another lesson-free day... that we could all go somewhere and actually enjoy ourselves?"

Lily grinned and said, "Oh, we should. Somewhere her dad and those Marauders cannot find us. It would be great. But I'm not sure how much free time she's going to get. I thought I heard her teacher say something about a competition."

For a moment, Marci looked crestfallen. Then she said, "I think that might be better for her. Though a weekend for just the four of us would be best."

"Oh, she'll return to her normal self once we get back to Hogwarts and Remus is around, I promise you that." Celeste said, admiring the work she had done on her toes.

"Yes, that's true." Lily said slowly. "She's got something to look forward to, in Hogwarts and Remus."

Silently, the three agreed not to make any more mentions of anything that had been said once Gen got back.


	11. Chapter 11

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 11

James and Sirius were once again sprawled out in James's room. Remus and Peter had left, both knowing full-well that Sirius was going to whine for the rest of the day. And they did not want to get caught up in the middle of it.

James was on the floor, absently playing with a couple of three-month-old Kneazles. Sirius was stretched out on the bed, Figaro resting on his chest.

"Why does this stupid thing like me?" he grumbled over the loudly purring Kneazle. "And why does your mother insist upon hording them?"

"Fig loves everybody. And I guess Mum needs something else to smother with love while I'm at Hogwarts." James said, rubbing between the orange and white Kneazle's ears. "I like this one." he muttered, more to himself than to Sirius. "I might talk Mum into letting me take her to Hogwarts."

"Why not Figgy?" Sirius asked with a scowl.

"Because Figgy's too old." James replied hotly. "Now go on, get it over with. Rant about Gwen and her dad and Jacques and whatever you're holding back."

"I thought she was lying when she told me about her dad." Sirius muttered, flopping back onto the bed and disturbing Figaro. Figaro hissed and hopped off the bed, swishing his tail angrily.

"I told you about her dad, remember?" James asked, rolling over on his back as the little orange and white Kneazle climbed onto his chest.

"No, at the end of last year, she kept telling me her dad wouldn't like me, that he was a big man and he snap me in half like a twig. Figured she was saying it so I would leave her alone."

"Sounds like Gwen." James agreed.

"Why doesn't she like me?" Sirius asked, more to himself than to James. "I mean, what did I ever do to her?"

"Well..." James trailed off as the Kneazle began to chew at his glasses.

"Well what?" Sirius demanded.

"I don't recall you doing anything specific to her, per se." James said, sitting up with a bit of difficulty and staring at Sirius. He squirmed a bit uncomfortably as Sirius glared at him, waiting his answer. "It's more along the lines of her thinking that you're a pathetic, sleazy, over-sexed playboy."

"She said that?" Sirius asked in a disbelieving tone.

"Yeah, mate. Her exact words."

Sirius scoffed and muttered, "Why does she always tell you everything, anyway?"

"Now that one I don't know the answer to." James said wearily. "You'll have to ask her that one. Not like she'd answer you, but it wouldn't hurt to try."

"And who does she fancy?" Sirius demanded. He had been randomly posing this question to James at any chance he could find, hoping James would slip. And so far, James had managed to hold his tongue.

"I'm tempted to tell you Snivvy, so you'll drop it." James muttered.

"But I know better." Sirius pointed out. "Hell, half the time she's the main spectator whenever we do something to him."

James nodded absently. There would be no tricking Sirius when it came to Gen. That much he was sure of. However, he had just given himself an idea.

"Sirius, tell me something."

"What?" Sirius asked, looking annoyed that James had interrupted his thoughts.

"Why do you fancy Gwen?"

Sirius looked a bit taken aback by this question. "Well, she's..." he trailed of, gesturing in midair, trying to find the right words. "She's a challenge, mate. She hates me, but I just get this feeling that's she's attempting to play hard-to-get. And she's doing a great job at it, by the way. And have you realized how silky her hair is?"

He cut himself off, glaring at James, who was trying his best to hold back his laughter.

"Why do you like Evans, then?" he demanded.

"To answer your first question, yes, I do know how silky Gwen's hair is." James said, sticking his tongue out at Sirius. "And the answer your second question, none of your business."

"You just don't have an answer." Sirius said smugly.

"Yes, I do." James replied, scowling. "And it is none of your business."

"You do know Evans is dating that Ravenclaw boy, don't you?" Sirius asked, leaning back against the wall and studying James.

"Yes, I do." James repeated darkly. "Remind me to hex him when we get back to school."

"Will do." Sirius said with a smile. As an afterthought, he added, "Or, ask Gwennie if she knows anything about them. She'll tell darling James anything, won't she?"

"She will." James began slowly. "What are you getting at? You want to go see her, don't you?"

"Yes, I do." Sirius said, getting to his feet. "What are you waiting for? Go ask her now!"

James's protests of him having no idea of where Gen was at that moment died quickly as Sirius practically dragged him out of the house and down the road.


	12. Chapter 12

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 12

Gen did not prove hard to find. Sirius and James spotted her half-dragging her overnight bag, no doubt crammed with anything Hogwarts-related she could stuff in it. She paused, letting the bag drop for a moment so she could catch her breath.

"Need any help?" James offered innocently, appearing at her side.

"No," she panted, "I've got it." She then scowled as Sirius quickly joined them. "But do me a favor, James? Keep an eye on this while I go buy something to drink? Dragging this is thirsty work."

The two boys exchanged glances as Gen hurried across the street and inside a shop.

"She's too stubborn." Sirius muttered, picking up her bag. "Wonder if she's going to Evans's?"

"Most likely," James began, watching as Gen hurried out of the shop, sipping her drink. "Which reminds me..." he trailed off as Gen joined them, scowling once more as she caught sight of Sirius with her bag. "Moore, what do you know about Evans and that Ravenclaw boy she's dating?"

"Nothing." Gen lied, taking another sip. "Why do you ask?" she asked him, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

"No reason." James was trying his best to appear innocent, something that failed him horribly.

Gen sighed wearily and said, "OK, all I'm telling you is she doesn't really like that guy. She finds him a bit creepy, to be honest. That's all you're getting, though."

"That's all?" James repeated, looking disappointed.

"That's all."

Sirius grinned at her and said, "Well, aren't you the fountain of information? Can't you see the poor sap is miserable? Tell him a bit more, Gwendolyn. And I'll leave you and Frenchy alone for the rest of the summer."

"I doubt it." Gen scoffed. "Now give me my bag."

"No, not until you fill poor James in."

"No, now give me my bag!" Gen repeated, stamping her foot and glaring at him.

"Not until -- " Sirius began teasingly.

"What are you drinking, Gwennie?" James asked, snatching her cup from her and taking a sip. "Mmm, fruity."

Gen looked from Sirius, who was grinning at her, to James, who had helped himself to her smoothie. "You guys are such gits! What makes you think I'll tell you anything now? Give me my bag, Black, before I hex you!"

Sirius eyed her wand lazily. "You wouldn't." he said, rolling his eyes.

"You want this back, too?" James asked, taking another sip of her smoothie.

"No," Gen began, wrinkling her nose with disgust, "you keep it."

James looked offended. "I don't have germs!" he exclaimed. "Sirius can vouch for me!"

Gen groaned and repocketed her wand. "I hate you two, so very, very much. Give me my bag, Sirius. Please."

"No, you shouldn't have to carry it. It's far too heavy for you."

Gen growled softly. "James, do something with him before I hex him!" James did not answer straight away. Gen glanced at him and hung her head, sighing. He was contentedly sipping away at her smoothie, back where they had started, nearly six feet away, oblivious to Gen and Sirius and their little spat.

Gen smacked her forehead with her palm. "Do you two enjoy annoying the ever-loving hell out of me?" she asked slowly, through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, we do." Sirius said with a faint smile. "Now which way do we go?"

"'We' are not going anywhere. I am going back to Lily's!"

The mere mention of Lily's name snapped James back to reality. "That's entirely wrong, Moore." he called, racing to catch them, tossing the empty cup in a nearby trash bin. "'We' ARE going to Lily's."

"No, 'we' are not!" Gen was beginning to lose her temper with the two of them. "'We' are going to leave me the hell alone so I can go back to the safety of Lily's house and away from you two!"

"Gee," James began, pulling a very hurt face, "all we did was offer to help. And you yell at us! That's what we get for being gentlemen, Sirius. We know when we aren't wanted. Let's go, Padfoot."

Sirius looked at James with confusion for a moment, then winked and said, "OK, OK, we'll go, Moore. Happy? Now you have to drag this heavy bag all by yourself." He dropped the bag unceremoniously on the sidewalk and the two set off back to James's house.

"Fine, I didn't want your help, anyway." Gen grumbled.

Though she was wishing she had allowed them to carry the bag a bit further by the time she reached Lily's house once more. Her shoulders and arms were aching as she dragged the heavy bag up the steps.

And unluckily for her, Vernon was leaving, with Petunia hanging on. He quickly offered to help her carry the bag inside, which Gen immediately knew was his way of making himself look like a gentleman to Petunia.

"No thanks." Gen panted. "I've got it."

She waited for Vernon to leave before calling to Lily. "Get out here and help me, would you?"

Between the two of them, they managed to get the heavy bag to Lily's room, with Gen attempting to fill her in on her little chat with two of the four Marauders.

"Why would Potter want to know about my relationships?" Lily grumbled, flopped down on her bed and watching, her eyes wide, as Gen pulled random spelled books, parchment, quills, robes, sweets, and assorted Quidditch supplies out of her bag. "And how did you fit all that in there?"

"I magically enlarged it. My broom still wouldn't fit, though. I need to go back for it. And my trunk. And for your other question, why else?"

Lily groaned loudly and and smashed her pillow in her face. Her reply was muffled, but Gen nevertheless understood it. "Why does he fancy me? I don't even like him! He's arrogant and sports players are NOT my turn on!"

"I didn't need to know that." Gen began casually, folding her robes. "Personally, though, I think you two would be mighty cute together."

"You've turned on me!" Lily wailed dramatically. "Some friend!"

"I'm just saying -- " the rest of her sentence was cut off by Lily's pillow smacking her in the face.

"And I'm just saying -- " another smack with the pillow, " -- that you Potter would be so much better together! You, him, and that ghastly sport!"

"No way!" Gen shrieked, spitting out feathers. "He wants you, Evans, and he's not going to give up! Trust me, I know James. Give in, one date, and he'll either stay on your case until you marry him, or he'll give up and get all depressed."

"I – will – not!" Lily shouted. "It's horrible enough that he fawns over me. A date, and I would go insane! Do you want that?"

"Hmm..." Gen began slowly, scratching her chin. "No, I really don't. You're insane enough."

"Oh, thanks." Lily began hotly. "You know, I've half a mind to tell you to go back to your parents' and fend for yourself." She gave Gen a very stern glare, which quickly dissolved into giggles. "I'm not that harsh. I wouldn't even do that to Potter, so you're safe."

Gen smiled appreciatively at her. "Thanks, I think." she giggled. "So..." she asked slowly, "what are we this weekend? I've got the weekend free. No dancing, unless Jacques decides to -- "

"Hold that thought." Lily said with a smile. "Marci, Celeste, and I were talking about this actually. But you have to wait until morning to find out."

"Oh, unfair!" Gen said with a whine. "But I guess I can wait."

"You'd better." Lily smiled, then smacked Gen with her pillow once more. "Now let's get downstairs. I'm sure Mum wants our help with dinner."


	13. Chapter 13

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 13

"Have I mentioned how much I love you guys?" Gen asked as the four girls settled down on a blanket in the shade of a large beech tree in a small little park not too far from Lily's house after a few hours in Hogsmeade. She reached into the nearest bag and pulled out a large block of chocolate.

"Not enough for what we have to deal with." Celeste teased. "Now hurry up and stuff your face so we can get this to Lily's and get going. We haven't got all day, you know."

"Yes, we do." Gen said. "And besides, instead of more shopping, let's take a break. Not to mention we might run into Jacques. Or worse." she added with a shudder.

"Actually, we didn't plan on more shopping." Marci began.

Gen reply was muffled, as she had stuffed a large chunk of chocolate in her mouth.

Lily rolled her eyes and said, "Manners, Gwendolyn."

"I'll show you manners." Gen muttered.

"Oh, fine. Have it your way." Lily giggled. "I'm not sure my dad was really going to take us, anyway."

"Take us where?" Gen demanded.

Before she could get an answer, there was a squeal and a blonde flurry of movement before Anabelle landed on Gen's stomach.

"Hi," Anabelle began breathlessly. "Jacques has been looking all over for you, Gen. He wants to know if you'll come over for dinner tonight."

"Um..." Gen glanced at the other three girls. "Well, not tonight, Anabelle. I've already got plans. I'm sorry."

"Oh." Anabelle sighed, hopping off Gen's stomach. "OK. I'll go tell him. See you later."

"She's so cute." Marci said softly after Anabelle had left.

"That she is." Gen muttered. "She's got a mean streak, too. She hates when people think she's younger than she is." She then got to her feet. "Let's get this put away and go before she comes back with Jacques."

"Good idea." Lily muttered.

"You know," Gen began with a yawn a few minutes later as they pounded up the stairs to Lily's room, "I could use a cat nap."

"From all that chocolate you've been eating. I swear, you and Remus belong together. You could both pig out on chocolate all day."

"Leave her alone, Celeste." Marci sighed. "Although, it is fun to tease you, Gwennie. We all know he's the only reason you took Divination."

"Actually," Gen muttered, ending with a yawn, "the reason I took it was for a lark. I didn't start to fancy him until the next year, thank you."

Simultaneously, the other three rolled their eyes.

"Whatever you say, Gwen." Celeste sighed.

Gen yawned again and asked, "What else did you three have planned? I don't want to sleep through anything exciting."

"Nothing exciting planned." Marci said softly. "You take a nap if you want."

"I love you guys." Gen murmured sleepily.

"I'll remember that when I'm mad at you." Gen's even breathing was the only response she got. "Like now." she groaned. "We planned to spend the day together and she falls asleep."

"Leave her alone." Marci repeated. "She's probably exhausted from dance lessons."

"But that's rude!"

"Aw, Celeste, why don't you like Gwennie?" Lily asked, yawning herself. "You're always so harsh to her. What has she done to you?"

Celeste opted not to answer. "Well," she began, getting to her feet and wiping her hands absently on her cream-colored tank top, "I, for one, am not going to waste my day. I'll see you three later."

Lily and Marci both heaved heavy sighs as the bedroom door shut with a loud snap. "Sometimes I wonder which one is really bi-polar." Lily frowned.

"Oh, you know Celeste and Gen have hardly ever gotten along." Marci pointed out. "It's always been you and Gen, and Celeste and me."

"True." Lily sighed. "Wish we could all get along, though."

"I don't see that happening." Gen murmured sleepily. "Celeste hates me. I don't know what I did to her, but I guess it was pretty bad." She yawned and stretched out. "If you two don't mind, I'd like to stay here and sleep. You two can go out, if you want. Or go catch up with Celeste."

"Yeah, we might need to apologize or something." Marci said, getting to her feet. "You going to be fine by yourself?"

"Sure will." Gen yawned again. "Go on. Catch Celeste before she gets away."

Lily and Marci exchanged glances before following up with Gen's suggestion and racing out to catch up with Celeste. Which did not prove hard to do.

"Gwennie let you two out?" Celeste asked, her arms folded over her chest.

"Don't be so harsh, Celeste. She tries to get along with you."

"Um, no, she doesn't. I'm the one who's trying."

"What did she do?" Lily asked. "At least tell us so we can try to help you and her get along better."

"Not going to happen, Lily. I've tried to get along with her and she refuses to cooperate, so forget it. It's not happening. I'll see you two later. I need to go home."

Lily and Marci both groaned loudly as Celeste hurried off. "I think I'd rather put up with James than those two." Lily muttered.

"Why Lily! It sounds like you actually would consider a date with James!" Marci giggled.

"I didn't say that!" Lily said quickly. "Don't tell Gen, please! I'll never, ever hear the end of it!"

"I'll think about not telling her." Marci said with a mischievous smile.


	14. Chapter 14

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 14

The following morning, Gen found herself dealing with a task that she had so far not managed to accomplish: the tango.

"Are you even thinking the tango?" Jacques demanded after a half hour of stumbling and and pauses from her. "Danielle is going to kill you, you realize this?"

"Oh shut it." Gen demanded, taking a sip from the bottle of water he offered her. "And I AM thinking the tango, thank you!"

Which was a lie. Her mind was on far more important things. And she just couldn't clear her head, no matter how hard she tried.

"Shall we try again?" he asked, this time with a calmer, gentler tone.

"Give me a minute. My ankles are killing me and I'm so hungry. I overslept and skipped breakfast."

"I noticed." he muttered, leaving her side and returning a moment later with a chocolate bar. "Not the best thing in the world," he murmured, "but it should hold you until lunch. And then I'll get you something a little bit more decent, if you allow me to."

Gen said nothing as she nibbled at the candy bar. After finishing the last of it, she glanced up at Jacques, who was patiently awaiting her answer. "I guess so." she muttered, looking away. "And let's give this another try."

"Good." he said with a tiny smile.

"Much better." Danielle said with a smile after their next attempt. "But you keep freezing up, Gwendolyn, and you shouldn't. I thought you trusted Jacques. That's why I keep putting you two together. Do you want another partner?"

"No," Gen began slowly, "I do trust Jacques and I don't want another partner. I'm just having an off day."

"Then maybe you two should practice the tango. Either here, or someplace else. Just practice." she said sternly before leaving them.

"She takes this seriously, doesn't she?" Gen asked, folding her arms over her chest and scowling at the spot where Danielle had been standing a moment earlier.

"Yes, she does." Jacques murmured.

"And she adores you." Gen said, rolling her eyes. "My god, do you realize had you not been standing here, she would have chewed me out, with every other being 'competition'?"

Jacques let out a small chuckle but said nothing.

"OK," Gen sighed, "now what are YOU thinking about?"

"What she said. We should practice the tango. My house is always free. I would say we could try a park or something, but the girls do tend to fawn over me, and distract you. Plus Anabelle would love to see us dance."

"I think Belle is mad with me." Gen muttered softly. "I did sort of brush her off."

"Oh, she loves you." Jacques said with a grin. "She didn't stay mad with you for too long. In fact," he began slowly, "she asked me to ask you to come over tonight for dinner. Our mother's going to be out with one of her dates and she wouldn't mind the extra company."

"I guess so." Gen sighed softly. "We could get in some practice, too, I suppose."

"Wonderful." Jacques smiled.

After a few more failed attempts at the tango, Danielle let them leave earlier than usual. Jacques was quiet on the drive to his house, and Gen felt like making no attempts to talk to him. Instead, she was thinking.

'Oh boy, Gwendolyn. What have you gotten yourself into? You need to set some limits with this guy! He buys you a candy bar, he offers lunch, he drives you to his place, where he's going to cook dinner. Limits are needed! Snap out of it!'

They arrived at his house just as his mother was leaving, with a man Gen immediately recognized as a friend of her father's. She and Jacques muttered a quick greeting before skirting around the two of them and into the house.

"Take care of Anabelle, Jacques!"

"I AM NOT A CHILD, MOTHER!" Anabelle yelled after her mother. Then she spotted Gen at her older brother's side. "Gen!" she giggled, racing to Gen and wrapping her arms around Gen's waist, hugging her tightly.

"Though you could pass for a child, Belle. You are rather small for thirteen."

"And you're rather tall." Anabelle giggled. "What are you doing here? I figured you would turn Jacques down when he asked you to come over."

Gen managed a tiny smile, but it was Jacques who answered.

"Gwendolyn and I need to practice the tango. And she's staying for dinner."

"Practice?" Anabelle repeated, looking confused. "I thought you two were great!"

"Not at the tango." Jacques said with a stern look in Gen's direction. "She keeps hesitating."

"Oh, Gen." Anabelle sighed. Then she hopped onto the couch, bouncing excitedly. "Practice now! Please!"

Gen sighed softly as she slipped off her shoes. "Fine." she murmured.

If possible, she did worse there. She kept stumbling and freezing up whenever Jacques would rest his hand on her hip. And she kept forgetting her poses.

"Later, then." Jacques sighed softly, pulling his hands from hers. He was obviously irritated with her, and Gen was just as bitter with him as she was with herself. She let out a loud _hmph! _as she sank down next to Anabelle on the couch as Jacques headed into the kitchen to start their dinner.

"You know," Anabelle began softly, scooting closer to Gen, "Jacques really likes you. You're all he talks about. And I wouldn't mind having you as a sister-in-law. You should really give him a chance."

Gen shook her head slowly. "He's sweet, but he's not my type, Belle. Besides, I have a boy in mind that I want to be with."

"But Gen! Jacques really likes you! And it hurts his feelings when you mess up! I saw it! Especially when you kept messing up because he'd put his hands on your hips."

Gen rolled her eyes and sighed softly. "Belle, forget it. I'm not getting with your brother."

Anabelle frowned at Gen before hurrying into the kitchen to give her older brother a hand with dinner.

"So," Jacques asked softly, "you two getting along?"

"No." Anabelle answered darkly. "I was trying to get her to see how much you care about her, but she's not budging! And besides, she says that she has someone else in mind."

"Oh?" Jacques asked, trying his best to sound uninterested. His mind began to race. He was nearly certain it was not either James or Sirius, so who else could it be?

Catching the look on his little sister's face, he said, "Oh, Belle, don't worry about it. We'll just have to try something else. Besides, I shouldn't be worrying about this. I need to be worrying about teaching her to tango."

"You do that." Belle sighed softly. "Though, if she does not want you touching her, then you're going to have one hell of a time."

"Belle!" Jacques hissed. "Watch it!" Then he sighed. "But you are right. I need to figure out some way to keep her from panicking whenever I try to touch her. I'm not doing anything inappropriate. And she's never had a problem with it before, so I can't really know what's wrong unless I ask her. But I doubt she'll give me the answer we want."

Anabelle frowned at him. "So just ask! You won't know until you try! Or at least find out where she's staying, so her dad doesn't fuss at you for calling."

Jacques shook his head. "She won't tell me, Belle. So forget it."

"Older brothers!" Anabelle sighed before heading back into the living room and leaning over the couch. "Gen?" she asked sweetly. "Will you please tell us where you are staying? Your father fusses a lot when we call lately and we don't want to have to put up with that."

"Neither do I." Gen said softly. "I'm staying at Lily's lately. But I may be at Marci's sometimes."

Anabelle nodded slowly before hurrying into the kitchen to ask Jacques if he had both of those numbers. And she breathed a sigh of relief when he told her he did.

"I'll get you two together one way or another, I swear it!" she whispered eagerly.

"Forget it, Belle." Jacques said sweetly. "I can do it myself, thank you."

"So far you've failed!" Belle hissed.

"Um..." Gen was timidly standing in the doorway, her fingers entwined in her hair. "Um, this seems like a bad night. I'll... just go. I'll see you in the morning, Jacques."

Before Jacques or Anabelle could protest, she had already slipped her shoes back on, grabbed her bag, and raced out the door, glad to be away from the two of them. Wait until she told Lily what she had overheard them saying!

A block away, she paused to catch her breath, an idea coming to her. James! Why didn't she think of him before? He was so protective of her! He could get Jacques to lay off. She turned and raced away from the direction of Lily's place and off to James's.


	15. Chapter 15

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 15

"Another one?" Mister Potter demanded, catching sight of Gen and James at the kitchen table. "What it is with you picking up runaways, James?"

Gen managed a faint smile before saying, "Oh, I'm not staying. I've just come to ask James a favor. Or two."

"Or two?" James demanded of her. "I thought you were asking just one!"

"Well, I've thought of another one. Keep your dog away from me."

James looked surprised for a moment, but quickly masked it. There was no way Gen could know about them becoming Animagi.

"Sorry, Moore." he told her, leaning back in his chair. "I don't control Sirius. And besides, that one would call for a favor in return."

Gen exchanged a look with James's father before getting to her feet with a sigh. "Fine, James. I suppose that if I do wind up causing bodily harm to Sirius, you can't blame me for it."

That did the trick.

James, in his haste, sent his chair flying across the room as he chased after her. "Aw, come on, Moore! There's no reason to hurt Sirius! He's just being... Sirius!"

"Speaking of Sirius," James's father called, "what did you do with him?"

"I banished him to the bedroom." James laughed. Then he caught the expression on his father's face. "Aw, Dad! You really don't want to see him when Gwen's around. Trust me, it's for the best. And he's got Figaro with him."

Without waiting for his father's reply, James and Gen headed out on the porch.

"So, Moore, we have a deal? I talk to Frenchy AND call off Sirius if you do something for me?" he asked, watching her for her reaction.

"Just talk to Jacques." Gen replied. "There's no way I'm playing matchmaker for you and Lily."

"Oh, I wasn't going to ask for a matchmaker." James began. "I was just going to ask you to take a page from my book. You did say she doesn't really care for that Ravenclaw. So, break them up."

"Break them up?" Gen repeated, her hands on her hips.

"Yes." James said with a tiny smile. "Unless you would rather be matchmaker?"

"No, I'll try to break them up." Gen sighed. She turned to leave, then turned back to him. "Don't be too harsh on Jacques. After all, I don't think he's realized what he's done. So no hexing him into a thousand pieces, OK?"

"OK." James said with a grin before pulling her into a quick hug. "Going to Evans's?" he asked, letting her go as quickly as he had hugged her.

"Yes."

"Be careful. And tell her I send my love."

Gen rolled her eyes. "I'm sure she'll love to hear I've been over here. See you later, James."

James waited until he was sure she had gone before heading back inside. And the first thing his father said was, "That one fancy you, James?"

"No." James said, shaking his head. "That one's Gwennie. She's the one that plays Quidditch. And besides," he added, dropping his voice to a whisper, "she would much rather have Remus."

His father raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

James let out a groan of annoyance before heading to his bedroom, where he knew Sirius was eagerly waiting for him to tell him everything.

And he was, of course, right.

As soon as he heard the door open, Sirius hopped off the bed, sending Figaro crashing to the floor, and demanded, "So, what did Moore want?"

James was tempted to toy with Sirius for a little while, but he said, "She just wanted to ask for a couple favors. That's all."

"That's all?" Sirius demanded. "That's ALL! And you send me in here and tell me to not eavesdrop just because she wanted to ask a favor or two of you?"

"Well, who knows what bodily harm she could have done you?" James pointed out.

"Aw, James, I wasn't going to bother her! She looked upset, didn't she?"

"She was." James muttered. "And it's because of Frenchy. According to her, he just doesn't get the hints that she doesn't like him the way he likes her. And he's being far more relentless than you. So, she wants me to have a little... chat... with him tomorrow morning."

James winced upon delivering this news. But Sirius reacted in a calmer manner than he expected.

"Why ask you?" Sirius asked after a moment or two of silence.

"Because she figured that you would do more than talk to him. Like, oh, I don't know, turn him into a frog and sell him to an apothecary. Or something to that effect."

"Hmm, never would have thought of that." Sirius said slowly. Then he shook his head and asked, "What was the other favor?"

James chuckled nervously and said, "Well... um... she wanted me to get you to, you know, leave her alone."

"She WHAT?" Sirius asked, his jaw dropping. "But I... I haven't really bothered her at all! I've been quite well-behaved for me!"

James laughed despite himself. "That you have." he told Sirius as he picked up Figaro. "Except for dropping my poor Figgy. He's fat and old, Sirius! He can't take abuse, can't you, Figgy?"

Figaro purred in response.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You and that bloody furball. If it weren't for Evans, I would say that cat is the only thing you care about."

"And myself." James said with a grin.

Sirius rolled his eyes again. "So, what are you going to do about Frenchy?" he asked, sitting on the bed and watching with slight disgust as James crooned over Figaro. When James did not answer straight away, Sirius groaned and asked, "Would you put the cat down, James, and answer me?"

"What?" James asked, looking up in surprise. "Oh, right, right. Well, actually, I was hoping on you going with me and doing most of the talking."

"Couldn't have picked it better myself." Sirius grinned.


	16. Chapter 16

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 16

Jacques did not seem so surprised to see them when James and Sirius and Sirius showed up. He merely raised an eyebrow and leaned against the wall, waiting for them to start whatever it was. That would be their only reason to show up, he knew it.

"Hey, Frenchy, how's it going?" Sirius began casually.

"Yeah, not doing anything, ah, inappropriate, are we?" James continued, folding his arms over his chest and ignoring the couple inches in difference in their height.

"No." Jacques replied coolly. "Why I would be?"

"Because Miss Moore showed up at my house last night." James said innocently. "And she isn't feeling too comfortable around you as of late. Now, why would that be, I wonder?"

"No idea." Jacques answered. "I haven't done anything wrong to her."

"Are you sure?" Sirius asked. "I mean, we could go find her and ask her what you've done."

"She hasn't shown up yet." Jacques muttered. "And," he continued, looking smug now, "I don't think she would be very happy to see you two here. Of course, that's just going by the last couple of times she's seen you two here."

He turned to leave, looking pleased with himself.

Sirius had pulled out his wand, but James snatched it from him and pocketed it. "Don't." he hissed. "That's exactly why Gen didn't want you to talk to him. Do you really want to ruin any chance with her?"

"I don't need my wand." Sirius grumbled, thrusting his hands in his pockets and glaring after Jacques.

James and Sirius began to bicker with each other. And the only thing that got them to stop was Lily sweetly asking, "And what are you two doing here?"

"Hey, Evans." James began casually, trying not to look as livid as he was feeling. "I could ask you the same thing."

"My dad dropped Gen off." Lily shrugged. "Now answer my question."

"We're just, ah..." James looked around quickly for an excuse. "Standing around, you know. It looks like it's going to rain and we didn't want to get wet and -- "

"And threatening Jacques?" Lily asked, folding her arms over her chest and glaring at the two of them.

"Hey, Moore asked us to." Sirius muttered.

"Really?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow. "From my understanding, Gen asked JAMES to talk to him, not you. But then again," she continued with a frown, "you two are joined at the hip, aren't you?"

"Ooh, conflict." Gen giggled as she joined them. "Anyone drawn blood yet?" she added with another giggle.

"Someone's in a good mood today." James commented. Then he added, "I had to stop Sirius from hexing Frenchy. I figured you wouldn't like that too much."

"No, I wouldn't." Gen sighed softly. "Although, you can do it after class, if you'd like. I'm thinking of quitting today, anyway."

"What?" Lily demanded. "Gen, you LOVE this! And your dad would kill you if you quit!"

Gen merely shrugged and hurried off to change.

Lily scowled after her, then turned her attention back to James and Sirius. "Well, then, let's get out of here. Before Sirius has a heart attack or something."

The three of them left, with Sirius grumbling darkly.

"Sirius, get over it." Lily told him, rolling her eyes. "Gwen doesn't fancy you, and I don't think she ever will. For some reason, you just disgust her."

"I what?" Sirius demanded of her.

"You disgust her!" Lily repeated. "She hates you, she can't stand you. I think it's the fact that you've practically snogged every girl in school."

"I have not!" Sirius said, looking appalled by the mere thought. "It's more like all the girls in our year, with the exception of you, Moore, Helms, and Morrow."

"And that's another thing!" Lily exclaimed. "Her cousin loves you and you don't even pay her any attention at all! It's just Gen, Gen, Gen to you!"

James was watching the two of them bicker with interest. Lily was making great points, but none of them were sinking in for him. It's not that James was ignoring her points, he just wasn't sure if she were directing them at him, or at Sirius, or at both of them.

Until she turned to him and said, "And you would do well to listen to me, too, Potter!"

James jumped in surprise, then quickly regained his composure. "Oh, I would?" he asked seriously, looking at Sirius, who looked like he had swallowed something bitter. "Would I, Sirius?"

"I think so, yeah." Sirius nodded. He was trying his best to look casual now, and was failing miserably.

Lily was trying to hold back her giggles. 'Oh, if Gen were here, she'd love this!' she thought.

She quickly changed her thoughts and, as seriously as she could, she asked, "So, Sirius, are you intimidated by Jacques? Is that why you felt the need to hex him?"

"Him? Oh, no. I mean, the fact that he had, what, four of his buttons undone and he's a bit muscular, no, that's not intimidating at all!" Sirius said with a grin. "I'm much more intimidated by this mystery man everyone else seems to know Gen fancies except me."

"And him." James pointed out.

Lily could not hold her giggles back anymore. "I'm sorry." she said, quickly trying to stifle them once more as she caught James and Sirius glaring at her. "You two are just hopeless. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back there and keep an eye on Gen. See you later!"

James watched her race off, a look of pure confusion on his face. "Was she flirting with me?" he asked Sirius, who was glaring after Lily.

"Seemed like it. But, really, mate, with women, who knows?"

"True." James muttered. Then he began to smirk. "Were you REALLY intimidated by him?"

"Just a little bit." Sirius said casually. "But not enough to count."

"Oh, I'm sure Gwen would count it." James laughed. "Wait until I tell her."

"No, don't!" Sirius pleaded. "She'd never let me live it down! Don't tell her!"

"Oh, I will." James sing-songed. "I'm not wheen, but I wiill!"

"Why is everyone ganging up against me today?" Sirius demanded, throwing his arms in the air in a defeated kind of way. "I didn't do anything!" Then he stopped the dramatics and grinned. "I know why. You're all jealous of my good looks."

"You wish." James laughed. "I'm so much better looking than you that it's not even funny."

"Then why hasn't Evans gone after you yet?" Sirius demanded.

"Ah, she's coming around." James said, a faint smile playing at his lips. "I'm sure of it."


	17. Chapter 17

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 17

"You're thinking of WHAT?" Jacques demanded, watching as a flushed Gen let her hair loose of its ponytail and snatched up her things, stuffing them inside her bag.

"I'm seriously considering quitting this nonsense." Gen muttered, hoisting her bag over her shoulder. "In fact, there's Danielle, excuse me."

Jacques caught her arm as she made to race across the room. "Don't!" he pleaded. "You and I have so much fun together."

"We used to." Gen replied, pulling her arm out of his grasp.

"What went wrong, then?" Jacques demanded. "Tell me! I cannot find another partner, Gwendolyn! Not this late!"

"I'm sure girls would be lining up to be your partner." she replied smugly. "You just need to watch your busy hands."

"When did I..." he trailed off with a sigh. "Gwendolyn, when exactly did I do whatever it was to upset you?" he asked, trying to keep her from rushing over to Danielle and quitting lessons.

"Hmm." Gen replied softly, shifting her bag to her other shoulder "The tango."

"The tang – Gwendolyn, the tango is about touching. I am so sorry if I invaded your personal space. I promise I will not do it again."

She stared at him for a moment or two before sighing softly and saying, "Fine, I'll think about this over the weekend. But if I'm not here Monday, I'm not going to show up. You may want to think about finding yourself another partner in the meantime, just in case I don't change my mind."

Jacques watched her go, shaking his head. "Women." he grumbled, sticking his hands in his pockets. "They send you one signal, then go crazy when you follow it."

Silently, he headed to his car, fumbling with the keys for a second before hopping in.

He cut the radio off and frowned, wondering why Gwendolyn was being so touchy at the moment. He mulled this over until he pulled up into the drive, his mother's car, and that of her newest boyfriend, were both already there. But he was a careful driver and easily maneuvered around them both.

"Jacques!" Anabelle squealed, obviously waiting for him. She bounded down the steps and wrapped herself around her older brother's legs. "Gwendolyn's not coming?" she asked sadly.

"No, she's... angry with me at the moment." he murmured, brushing his sister's hair off her forehead. "Let me guess: Mother is enjoying her new boyfriend's company?"

Anabelle sighed softly, rolled her eyes, and nodded.

"Well, get in." Jacques told her, gesturing to the car. "I'll take you to dinner. I'm sure Mother won't miss us."

"I am too." Anabelle grumbled, sliding into the passenger's side and fastening her seatbelt.

Jacques smiled faintly at his little sister as he pulled the car back onto the street. "Where to?" he asked her as she reached for the radio.

"Anywhere. I'm so hungry." she groaned dramatically.

"Anywhere it is." Jacques chuckled.

A few minutes later, they were comfortably seated in a corner booth of a French restaurant a few blocks away from their house. Jacques was nibbling contently on a bread stick as Anabelle sat, observing her brother.

"Jacques," she began softly, grabbing her own bread stick and toying with it, "what's the matter?"

"Gwendolyn." Jacques sighed softly. "She wants to quit."

"What?" Anabelle asked, jumping so that she nearly knocked her glass over. She caught it just before it spilled. "Jacques... you can't let her! She has so much fun and -- " she trailed off, staring at the door, quite surprised by who had just walked in.

Anthony Moore, dressed in a dark navy suit, walked ahead, talking to his boss, an older man with white hair, pale green eyes, and who was several inches shorter than Anthony.

Following closely was Susan Moore, a pale beige suit accenting her curves, and, following her, looking throughly miserable, wearing a pale blue evening dress, her hair simply pulled back, was Gen.

"Mother, I want to go home." Gen whispered to her mother as she sank down at the end of the table, her mother taking the chair next to her. "I don't want to be here. Why did you two drag me here?"

"Your father says we haven't seen enough of you this summer." Susan murmured, patting her daughter's hand. "After we leave, you can go straight back to Lily's, I promise."

Gen crossed her arms over her chest and glared randomly around the room, her eyes finally resting on Jacques and Anabelle. She looked surprised for a moment, but quickly regained her composure.

"Wonder what's going on?" Jacques murmured, watching Gen sip her wine and try to pretend as though she had not noticed them.

"I don't know. I guess her dad's trying to get in his boss's good graces." Anabelle murmured, sneaking a sip from Jacques's glass of wine. "Poor Gwendolyn." she added, shaking her head. "They need to just leave her be."

"That they do." Jacques agreed.

Throughout dinner, he kept his eyes on Gen, unaware of what he was eating. She, herself, merely picked at her dinner, longing to be anywhere else.

"Mother," Gen whispered softly, "let's go, please. All they're going to do is talk business. I want to go home."

"I do, too." Susan murmured, sipping her third glass of wine. "Let's just wait, though, darling. They won't be too much longer."

"I'm sure." Gen grumbled, cupping her chin in her hand. She shut her eyes and sighed faintly. 'This evening is going to drag on forever.' she thought bitterly. 'Oh, man, what I wouldn't give to go home, get a bubble bath and go to bed!'

It was as though Jacques and Anabelle could read her thoughts. The next moment, Jacques was at her side, saying, "So sorry to both you, Mister Moore, Mrs. Moore, but I was wondering if I could take Gwendolyn home?"

Anthony studied him for a moment, then nodded swiftly.

"My hero." Gen murmured as she slid into the backseat of Jacques's car a few minutes later.

Jacques merely smile and asked, "Lily's, right?"

"Please." Gen sighed softly. She said nothing until he pulled up at Lily's house. "Thanks." she murmured, getting out of the seat and hurrying up the walk.

"Moore, think about what I said!" Jacques called after her.

"Yeah, yeah," Gen grumbled, waving to them before running inside, shutting the door behind her.

"How did it go?" Lily asked sweetly as Gen joined her in her bedroom.

"How else?" Gen asked, taking her hair down and reaching behind her neck to undo her dress. She failed, whined, then turned to Lily so she could do it. "I'll be in the tub. Then I'll tell you everything. I need your opinion on something, anyway."


	18. Chapter 18

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 18

"So, let me get this straight," Lily began slowly, watching as Gen towel-dried her hair, "you want to quit lessons, because Jacques is not the gentleman you thought, but when you told him, he started to apologize, make excuses, that kind of thing?"

"Yeah," Gen replied, handing Lily her brush and settling herself on the floor by the bed so Lily could brush her hair for her.

Lily rolled her eyes as she began to brush through Gen's damp hair. "And Potter and Black agree whole-heartedly that you should quit?"

"Mm-hmm." Gen murmured sleepily. "But my dad -- "

" -- would kill you if you quit." Lily finished for her. "Was that why he stopped over earlier, demanding that you go with him and your mother, and his boss, to dinner tonight?"

"Partly." Gen muttered quickly. "But guess who was also there?"

"Jacques?"

"Bingo. And he had Anabelle with him. They gave me a ride here. Which, hell, I'd take a ride with an axe murderer before staying and listening to them babble legal terms and stare at me."

She shuddered slightly before adding, "So... now I need your opinion. Should I wait Jacques out the rest of the summer, or quit lessons?"

"Hmm..." Lily reached over to her desk and plucked up two hair scrunchies with plans of braiding Gen's hair. "Well, personally, would you rather have your father angrier with you, and stay around here with me and the other girls, or deal with Jacques?"

"I'd rather take none of the above." Gen grumbled.

"Which would be easier to cope with though?"

Gen thought about this for a while. Then she half-heartedly decided that Jacques would be easier to deal with, since James, and Sirius, though she really hated to admit that, were both willing to hex Jacques until he was nothing but a speck.

She told Lily that.

"I knew you'd decide that." Lily smiled. Then, fastening the end of the long black braid with the other scrunchie, she added, "Come on, I think Mum made brownies earlier. And I really think we could both use, oh, seven or eight."

The two of them headed downstairs, Lily chatting away as Gen dragged herself along. Her weariness soon left her as she nibbled at the brownie Lily offered her.

"Mmm, these are great, Mrs. Evans." Gen giggled.

Mrs. Evans gave them both a tired smile before saying, "Don't stay up too late, girls. And don't eat all of them!"

"'Night, Mum." Lily called as her mother went to bed.

"Good night, girls."

"Let's take some of these upstairs." Lily murmured, grabbing a plate and piling brownies on top of it.

"Right." Gen said with a tiny smile. "Otherwise we might fall prey to eavesdroppers."

"I think Petunia's asleep, but you are right." Lily giggled.

A minute later, the two of them were happily settled on the floor of Lily's room, each nibbling at a brownie, and both of them were thinking things they would not care to share with the other at the moment.

After they had finished the brownies, Lily giggling about how she had no idea how they could have eaten all of those as she took the plate back to the kitchen, Gen stretched out on her blanket, feeling both full and very sleepy.

Gen was soon fast asleep.

And she slept until she was assaulted by a barrage of pillows from the other three girls the next morning.

"I called them first thing this morning." Lily explained as Gen glared at her. "It might do you some good to see them."

"Yeah, Gwennie, instead of ignoring us, you should tell us what's going on, before we hear it from Evans. Or worse, Potter." Celeste said with a shudder.

"Well," Gen began through gritted teeth, "I know you don't care, since you've never liked me, period. And Marci would probably not rather hear it."

The other three frowned as Gen got to her feet, grabbed a pair of shorts and a tank top, and headed to the bathroom to change.

"Not in the best of moods today, is she?" Celeste commented.

"No, but I'd rather her like this than how she was last night." Lily sighed. "This way, it's easier to get her to calm down."

"That's for sure." Celeste said wearily.

"Well, inform me," Gen began as she came back from the bathroom and tossed her pajamas onto the floor, "what do you have planned today?"

"Nothing, really." Celeste said innocently. "You tend to ruin any plans we have."

Gen gave her a look that scorched before turning to her cousin. "Do you mind if I come to your house later? I could use a swim."

"Sure, no problem." Marci said with a knowing smile. "Mum and Dad will be happy to see you."

"That makes two people." Gen grumbled.

Ten minutes later, the four of them, having spent about five of those ten minutes scrambling around for bathing suits, were heading for Marci's house.

As they cut the corner and raced for the driveway, Gen stopped and swore loudly. Her father's car was in the drive.


	19. Chapter 19

Every Man For Himself

Note: Eep, so sorry about the shortness! Will do a longer chapter with the boys next time.

Chapter 19

"He's probably just come to see his brother." Marci said, yelping as Gen seized her by the collar and pulled her behind the row of hedges along the edge of Marci's parents' property.

"You're not fooling her." Celeste said brightly. "We all know he's looking for his bi-polar, loving daughter."

Gen gave her a death glare and muttered, "Frankly, I don't think I did anything to make him mad this time."

"'This time?'" Celeste and Lily asked together.

"When does your dad need a reason to be mad at you?" Marci added quietly.

"That's true." Gen sighed weakly. She frowned and peered around the hedges. Then quickly dove back behind the hedge. "He's leaving. Should we move in case he comes this way?"

"Let's." Marci said, leading them all around the back of her parents' house.

No need for that, though. By the time the four of them burst through the back door of the house, Gen's father was nowhere around.

"Gwendolyn, you just missed your father." Isabella said softly.

"Yeah, I know." Gen said wearily as the other three girls raced upstairs to change. She sank down at the table and asked, "Aunt Isabella, how mad was he?"

"He didn't seem too mad." Isabella murmured, placing her hand on her niece's shoulder and smiling faintly. "He didn't mention you at all. Honest. But I'm pretty sure the reason he came by was because of you."

"I did, too." Gen murmured, getting to her feet. At the door to the kitchen, she paused and asked, "What did -- "

"I told him we hadn't seen you all week." Isabella smile. "He didn't appreciate that. Of course, that was when he pulled up. No mention of you from him, though. He ignored me, then he spent a while in here with your uncle."

Gen smiled faintly before heading upstairs.

A few minutes later, she and Marci were floating around the pool on the rafts while Lily and Celeste lazed by the edge of the pool.

"Hey, Gen," Celeste called from her chair, "Lily said you wanted to quit lessons. Why? Jacques is totally cute!"

"And a jerk." Gen muttered.

"Aw, Gen, just because a boy grabs your bum doesn't mean he's a jerk." Celeste giggled. "That's their way of saying they like you."

"And he knows I don't like him." Gen replied lazily.

"So?" Celeste asked, giggling. "Sirius knows that and it doesn't stop him."

Gen groaned wearily. She slipped off the raft and climbed out of the pool as silently as she could. Then she grabbed Celeste and threw her, shrieking, into the pool.

"NOT FAIR!" she spluttered, glaring at Gen. "WHAT DID I DO TO YOU?"

Gen giggled and said, "Hey, you did make me feel better. So, I guess I forgive you."

"FORGIVE ME?" Celeste shrieked, still splashing around in the pool. Her splashing sent a squealing Marci into the water as well.

But she did not notice.

"FORGIVE ME! I SHOULD BE GETTING AN APOLOGY FROM YOU!"

"Hey, Sirius, you were right." James said as he and Sirius casually strolled across the yard as though they strolled across some girl's yard everyday. "That was Helms you heard."

"Ooh!" Lily half-shrieked. "What do you two want?"

"We were just coming to see if that was Helms we heard or not." Sirius said casually. "Cute swim wear, by the way."

Lily huffed, grabbed a towel, and wrapped it firmly around herself. All while glaring at James as though he were the one who said it and not Sirius.

"What were you squealing about, anyway, Helms?" James asked, turning his attention to Celeste and Marci.

"Gen threw me in." Celeste huffed. "You really need to do something with her, since you're the only person she listens to."

"OK," James shrugged. He then seized Gen around the waist and tossed her into the pool. "Better?"

"Much." Celeste scoffed. "Can't you two go away now?" she asked as she, shivering, dragged herself out of the pool, gratefully accepting the towel Lily offered her.

"No." James said coolly. "Not until, ah, we talk with Moore."

"Well Moore," Gen grumbled, "does not want to talk to you. Now go away!"

"Fine, Moore." Sirius sighed. "We were just going to offer to help you."

Celeste waited until they left to ask, "Do you really think they meant to help you?"

"Come on." Gen scoffed. "When they say 'help' they mean chaos, destruction, mayhem on a monumental scale..."

"That's true." Celeste giggled.


	20. Chapter 20

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 20

"You really expected her to accept our help?" Sirius asked, glancing at James, who was looking as though he was having a battle of emotions right then.

"No, not really." James replied, feeling the strange mixture of disappointment, happiness, shock, and, of course, confusion. "Weird, you know? She asks me for help, then refuses when I offer it to her."

"Women." Sirius agreed sadly. "Though she did look cute."

"So did Evans." James laughed. "But, sadly, back to the matter at hand. What are we going to do with Frenchy?"

"Frog." Sirius answered simply. "I don't think it would take much to convince Moore to hex him."

"Yes, it will." James scoffed. "She obviously doesn't want to listen to us. Or get our help..." He trailed off with a grin, suddenly getting an idea. "But I know who will convince her to, at least, let us help her."

"Am I about to learn the identity of her mystery crush?" Sirius asked warily, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Sirius, you're an idiot if you haven't realized it." James scoffed.

"I'm sure it hasn't been in front of my face this whole time." Sirius said with his own scoff.

"No, but he has."

Sirius said nothing until they reached Moony's house. "Moony?" he demanded. "She fancies MOONY?"

"Ssh!" James hissed as he bounded up the steps and rapped quickly on the door. "He doesn't know. And this isn't the way he should find out."

"Who should find out what?" Remus asked calmly as he swung the front door open. "My parents are out." he added, stepping aside so the other two could get inside. "I'm glad for the company, but I get the feeling you two want something?"

"We do." James smiled, making himself feel right at home on the couch. "We need you to talk to Moore for us. She listens to you."

Remus raised an eyebrow and muttered, "Usually, she tends to listen to you faster. And what am I supposed to be talking about with her."

"Tell her to quit lessons." Sirius said quickly, trying to mask his shock over the fact that Gen fancied Remus. "She's not listening to us about this. And that French dance partner of hers is a git."

"Is he really?" Remus asked, turning his attention to James, who he knew would be honest about Jacques, and not just say such about him because he was dancing with Gen.

"I don't really have much evidence." James muttered. "Except her word. And, according to her, he's made her pretty nervous, to the point of not wanting to go back to dancing."

Remus frowned and said, "Why do you think she'll listen to me, anyway?"

"Because she does!" James said, starting to whine. "You haven't realized how easy it is to make her do something for you? I have!"

Remus shook his head. "The only reason you want me to talk to her," he began slowly, "is because she won't listen to you, I'm taking it?"

Sirius and James exchanged a look before stammering and trying to talk over one another. "Well, see -- " Sirius began quickly.

"It's Sirius she won't listen to -- "

"Me? ME? -- "

"She doesn't like you meddling -- "

"OK, OK, I'll talk to her!" Remus shouted, trying to keep his laughter down. "Just promise you'll stop bickering. You're giving me a headache."

Sirius and James quickly shut up and turned their attention back to Remus.

"You'll do it?" Sirius asked, sounding nearly excited, mainly due to the possibility of Gen quitting lessons. He wasn't too thrilled with Remus talking to her, but, he had to admit, Remus was better than Jacques.

"Yes, I will." Remus replied wearily. "But it'll have to wait until my parents get home."

"Leave them a note." James replied. "Or Sirius could wait for them, and tell them you chose not to be their son anymore and he wants to take your place."

"What I wouldn't give..." Sirius grumbled.

"What?" Remus asked, looking confused.

"Nothing." Sirius said brightly. "We'll wait for your parents to show up, then we'll go find her. Last we saw her, she was at Morrow's."

"But I bet anything she left quickly after that." James added with a frown. "She's probably either at Evans's, most likely, or wandering about London."

Remus sighed softly and asked, "Do you think it would be better if you two found her and told her to wait for me to talk to her somewhere?"

"Nope." Sirius smiled. "We're going to find her, together. And we're going to talk to her... well, you'll do the talking, but I want to be there, too."

Remus and James both looked at him. James's look was more of a 'don't-you-dare' kind of look while Remus's was more of a 'why?' kind of look.

Sirius ignored them both. Sure, he was now wary of Remus since he knew Gen fancied him. But he also wanted to see what she had to say.


	21. Chapter 21

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 21

The three of them found Gen outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, her chin cupped in her hand, listlessly prodding her ice cream around with her spoon.

"Doesn't look too happy, does she?" Remus asked, stopping and wondering if it would be right to bother her right then.

"No, but when is she ever?" Sirius said with a sigh.

Remus merely frowned at him before timidly going over and sitting next to Gen. "Something on your mind?" he asked softly. "Or as you just letting your ice cream melt for the fun of it?"

"No, nothing really." Gen sighed. "I'm just... bored, I guess."

"Sirius and James wanted me to talk to you." Remus muttered.

"Figures." Gen replied, saving a cherry from drowning in her melted ice cream and popping it her mouth. "They know I won't listen to them so they send you to be the messenger. What is it this time?"

"Frankly," Remus began, reaching into her bowl and timidly plucking the other cherry from it, "I haven't the slightest. They were vague on the details. But they said you wanted to quit lessons?" he asked before placing the stolen cherry in his mouth.

"I do." Gen sighed. "Well, no, I don't... I'm conflicted."

With a frown at him for stealing her last cherry, she added, "I want to quit because of Jacques, but then again, I love it and my father would kill me if I did quit."

"He wouldn't." Remus murmured.

"Yes, he would! You don't know my father!"

"I doubt it." Remus said with a warm smile. "He may be mad for a while, but I doubt he'd kill you."

He shifted himself in the chair and added, "If you do feel uncomfortable around Jacques, why not ask for a different partner?"

"Jacques is the only boy in the lessons who can handle my height." Gen replied sourly. "All the other boys haven't hit their growth spurts yet. Plus, he knows what he's doing. Half the time anyway. The other half I wind up falling and hurting myself."

Remus managed a tiny smile, though immediately regretted it when she shot him a glare.

"Maybe your falling isn't his fault?" he suggested, making sure to move his chair out of her reach.

But she could never cause bodily harm to Remus.

Instead, she sighed once more and said, "No, it is partly my fault sometimes, but he's bad with lifts. Apparently, I'm not as light as I look. Or so he says."

"I'm sure you are." Remus murmured.

Gen tried to keep herself from blushing, and actually succeeded.

"Where are those two anyway?" she asked, glancing around.

"Probably hiding." Remus shrugged. "Which is surprising, since Sirius said he wanted to hear what you had to say."

"Any chance to be nearby." Gen said, ramming her spoon through the only unmelted lump of ice cream bitterly. "God, he's a git. Can't one of you get him to back off?"

"I don't think that's possible." Remus said with a sad smile. "He finds you attractive and wants to be nearby. And half of Hogwarts hates that."

"They can have him." Gen grumbled.

"Your rejection also drives him." Remus sighed. "And you think you have it bad? You should be in the boys' dorm when he's whining about you and your rejection and your hostility towards him."

Gen cracked a small smile and said, "I bet that's enjoyable."

"Him and James, I swear." Remus laughed. "Them whining together is enough to drive anyone mad. Except Peter, I suppose."

"Hero worship is unhealthy. Has anyone told him that?"

"Like he'd listen to anyone else except James." Remus said, rolling his eyes.

Gen sighed softly and turned her attention to her now fully melted ice cream. "I'm sorry." she whispered sadly. "I'm not the best of company right now. But tell them I've decided I may as well suck it up and continue with lessons, at least until the end of summer."

Remus grinned and said, "I will. I'm sure they'll be glad to hear that."

"See you later, Remus."

"Bye, Gwendolyn."

As he figured, Sirius and James immediately rounded on them once they caught up with him. "Well?" James demanded.

"She's going to go ahead and finish her lessons until the end of summer." Remus muttered, wincing. He was sure neither of them were happy about that, and killing their messenger was not the way to handle that.

Though neither of them turned on him. Instead, Sirius bitterly shoved his hands in his pockets and James merely scoffed.

"Want to come over tonight, Remus?" James asked after a moment more of sulking. "I'm sure Mum won't care."

"I guess." Remus shrugged. They were taking that better than expected. Who knew how they would be in the safety of James's home, though? And it was his duty to stick around and make certain they did not plan anything illegal. Or so he felt.


	22. Chapter 22

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 22

James, Sirius, and Remus were sprawling out in James's bedroom, Figaro deciding it was Remus's turn to be laid on, was stretched out on Remus's stomach, purring loudly.

The three of them were being oddly quiet. Especially Sirius, who had taken to sulking, stretched out on the floor, his feet propped up on the wall.

And James's mother made to comment on that as she carried in a basket of laundry.

"Aren't you three lively tonight?" she asked, dropping James's and Sirius's robes onto the bed.

"That we are." James mumbled. It seemed Sirius's bad mood had inhabited both him and Remus the moment they stepped into the bedroom.

"Don't stay up too late." his mother sighed.

"We won't." James replied. "Whatever makes you think we will?"

"We always do." Remus answered.

"Oh yeah."

Sirius took this moment to sit up and glance at Remus, a bit jealous of the attention Figaro was paying him. "She didn't say anything else? You're not leaving anything out?"

"No." Remus answered. "Not leaving anything out. I told you everything."

Sirius scoffed, not believing him.

"Ask her yourself then!"

"I would, but I don't know where to find her." Sirius muttered.

"Ignore him." James whispered to Remus. "Between Frenchy and Figaro wanting to be your kitty, he's not in the best of moods. I've learned to ignore it, it's not that hard."

"Says you." Remus muttered. "He's being a git, and I have no idea what I did to him."

'I do.' James thought.

"Sirius stop being a git before I send you back to your parents." he snapped. "Moony's done nothing to you, so drop it."

Sirius huffed and headed into the bathroom to change into his pajamas. He wasn't sleepy, but going to sleep was much better than sitting here listening to the two of them, James acting like he had no idea why he was being huffy.

When he came back, James and Remus were not in the room. He figured they had gone out onto the porch to talk. He was tempted to join them, but the moment he stretched out on the floor, he was jumped by Figaro.

He was stroking between Figaro's ears, half asleep, when James and Remus returned. They had been in the kitchen searching for something to eat. And found a load of Chocolate Frogs.

"I told you Mum tries to keep something sweet in the kitchen at all times." James said to Remus, his mouth full of chocolate.

"You did." Remus muttered. "I'm starting to like your mum more."

"Oh, I'll be sure to tell her that." James laughed. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind having another one over here all summer."

"No thanks." Remus smiled sadly. "I'm more than a handful."

"That's for sure." Sirius yawned. "We nearly lost you that last time. What were you thinking?"

Remus shrugged. He wasn't too sure why he ran off their last full moon at Hogwarts last year. He shouldn't have. And he was glad James caught him easily.

"Don't dwell on that." James muttered. "We caught him before he found someone to bite. Though, really, Moony, I still doubt you have it in you, wolf or not, to harm anyone."

Remus did not answer that. He disagreed with that. He had fought with James and Sirius on several full moons, and left them with scratches and bites and the like.

He snapped himself back to attention just in time to hear James say something about Gen. Would the two of them ever stop? He knew James worried about her, but Sirius was too much.

"I'm going to bed." he announced suddenly, curling up in the blanket James's mother had supplied him with. "You two try to to groan too loudly about your love lives. Or lack thereof."

James and Sirius both stared at the lumpy blanket for a moment or two before grabbing their pillows and assaulting it relentlessly.

"You're one to talk!" James said. "You're not even interested in a girl."

"Who says I'm not?" came Remus's muffled reply.

"Me." Sirius answered. "And James. We haven't heard you mention a girl's name in the mushy, romantic tone, or heard you talking in your sleep about one or -- "

"Just because I don't doesn't mean I don't fancy someone."

"Who, then?" James demanded.

"None of your business, Potter." Remus answered. "Now kindly get your elbow out of my ribs."

"Tell me or I won't." James threatened.

Remus was sure he could ignore that after his entire chest went numb or something similar. But James was not going to stop pestering him until he spilled.

And he wasn't. Not that night, anyway.


	23. Chapter 23

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 23

While Sirius and James were relentless beating poor Remus half to death with their pillows, Gen was enjoying a long, hot bubble bath in her bathroom at her parents' house.

She had begun to grow tired of the girls and their yammering, and tired of running into Jacques wherever she went, so she had, reluctantly, returned to her parents' house.

Her mother, passed out stone drunk on the couch, had no idea she was home. Her father merely answered the door when she knocked and promptly returned to his study.

They probably weren't going to bother her that night.

Even so, she snuggled up in her bathrobe, lazily flicked her wand, locking the door, she curled up on the window seat with some summer homework she had so far neglected to do.

An hour later, she paused from her writing, the end of her quill resting against her chin.

She was unsure of how to answer this question for McGonagall. And she had not even bothered to start on Slughorn's homework. She needed Lily for that.

But her Charms and Divination, most of which she had made up, she had finished.

She yawned, stretched, and dropped her quill before glancing at the clock.

"It's that early?" she asked with a frown.

She could go for a walk. But that would mean the possibility of running into someone she knew. And another bath was out of the question as she just got out of the tub and was still kind of prune-y.

She flexed her fingers and got to her feet, careful not to send any drying essays onto the floor. She started to pace the room, wondering if there was something she could do without leaving the house to break the monotony of homework that only an hour caused.

Coming up with nothing, she slipped on a pair of jeans and pulled on a light jacket and headed outside, taking her house key, and wand, with her.

"Bloody hell!" she whimpered, cursing herself for not drying her hair before she came out. The cold air was not mixing well with her damp hair. She was probably going to get sick or something. But that would mean no dancing for a little while.

So she kept on going.

And nearly lost herself trying to get back home.

But she managed, without losing herself and without running into anyone she knew.

Once home, her father was not in a happy mood. "Where have you been?" he demanded. "And why didn't you tell one of us you were leaving?"

Gen glanced at her mother, then glanced back at him. "You were working. And, in any case, I doubt you would care enough to call the police if anything happened to me."

"Don't be a smart mouth, Gwendolyn." Anthony warned. He watched his daughter as she headed up the stairs to her room.

"Oh," he added, "Jacques has been calling for you."

"Jacques?" Gen asked, pausing at the top of the stairs and turning to face him. "What did he want?"

"You to call him back."

"Like I'm going to." Gen grumbled, rolling her eyes as she headed to her room. Not bothering to use her wand, she reached up and slide the bolt to the door herself.

Her bed looked quite inviting, but she still had a pile of homework to do. She did not return to her window seat, instead opting to use her desk.

'I sit on that window seat,' she thought, 'and I'll go straight to sleep. And I want to at least try to finish this Transfiguration homework. I can get Lily's help with Potions.'

But she was tired and fell asleep, her head resting on her arms, which were resting on her incomplete Transfiguration homework.

The next morning, she awoke to a somewhat familiar tapping sound.

"No, I don't want to get up." Gen groaned, attempting to bury her face in her arms. But the tapping would not stop.

"Fine, fine, I'm up." she grumbling, glancing around the room, blinking a couple times to get her sleep out of her eyes. And she spotted a very familiar owl on her windowsill.

"Ooh, what's going on now?" she groaned, crossing the room, ignoring the pale blue ink that she had somehow accidentally spilled on the carpet, and opening the window. The owl dropped its letter on the window seat and flew off again.

Gen rolled her eyes and picked up the letter. Her eyebrows nearly disappeared in her messy hair as she saw who it was from.

"What do you want, Black?" she demanded of the letter as she sat down on the seat, not bothering to close the window.

"OH, Black," she sighed, shaking her head. "I'm not quitting lessons, so get over it. I'm going to deal with them..." she trailed off, very tempted to scream.

"There goes my trust in James." she grumbled, shredding the letter in her hands. "Dammit, why did he have to tell?"

With the letter shredded at her feet, she decided to stay at home that day and cool down. She just didn't think she could face anyone, especially James if she happened to run into him.


	24. Chapter 24

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 24

Gen was snuggled safe in her bed, still content to staying in her room and not running the risk of running into anyone she knew. Her anger with James had decreased, but she was still angry, to a point.

She was very determined to stay in her pajamas the rest of the day, but she dragged herself out of bed long enough for a shower.

"Just now getting up?" her mother demanded, pounding on the door.

"More like I don't want to leave the house today, Mum. I've been up. Just been... moping." Gen called back, cutting off the shower and bundling herself in a towel.

"Well, why?" her mother asked.

"I think I've lost my trust in James." Gen called, coming out of the bathroom. "You can have it now," she added, "if that's why you're picking a fight with me."

"I am not picking a fight, Gwendolyn! I just... you got a call from Jacques earlier. And Lily, too."

"Fine." Gen sighed. "I'll call them back in a minute."

She quickly changed and relocked her door before settling down on her bed and reaching for the phone. "Lily first." she told herself.

But she received no answer when she called.

"So, Jacques, then." she said with an even greater sigh.

No answer at his house, either. But, then, she remembered the studio. She got Danielle, who sounded like she was going to lecture her, but instead handed the phone off to Jacques.

"Gwendolyn! I was growing worried."

"I was in the shower." Gen said, flopping against her pillows. "What do you need?"

"I was wondering if you were going to show today?"

"No, I'm taking a personal day, thank you. I'll be there in the morning." Gen sighed, twirling a damp strand of black hair around her finger.

"Anything wrong?" Jacques asked. She could tell her was forcing himself to sound worried.

"Oh, no, nothing at all. Just need some time to myself." Gen said, hanging up before he could reply.

She stretched out on the bed, giggling at the thought of the look on his face when she hung up on him. She reached for the phone and tried to call Lily again.

And this time, she got an answer.

"Where have you been? We've been worried about you!" Lily told her, sounding a bit put-off.

"At my parents." Gen replied. "And I got an owl this morning. From the biggest git in the universe."

"James?" Lily laughed.

"Close. Good ol' Sirius. And guess what?"

"What?" Lily asked, sounding as though she was unsure of whether or not she wanted to know.

"James decided to go and tell Sirius about my little thing for Remus." Gen groaned. She sat up and grabbed the nearest stuffed animal from the bed and hugged it.

"'Little'?" Lily laughed. "Gen, I don't think it's little. I think it's right up there with James's 'little thing' for me."

Gen rolled her eyes and said, "The size of my thing for Remus is not what I'm getting at. He TOLD Sirius! There goes my trust in him."

"Just because he told him, which, frankly, I expected that long before now, doesn't mean you can't trust him." Lily murmured.

"I can't believe this." Gen laughed. "You are taking up for Potter. You do realize that, don't you?"

"I – I am not! I'm just saying! It was ONE THING, that doesn't mean you can't trust him again!" Lily spluttered, sounding very, very flustered.

Gen began to laugh. "Oh, if I wasn't so MAD with James, I'm sure he would love to hear this. You're blushing, aren't you?"

"I am not!"

It did not sound like she wasn't.

"Sure you aren't." Gen smiled. "Though, I have no proof of that."

Lily actually let out a sigh of relief. "So, getting off the subject... why aren't you dancing today? I thought you were going to keep it up until the end of summer?"

"Personal reasons. Mainly not wanting to run into our two favorite nitwits." Gen sighed.

"Can't say I blame you there." Lily said, smiling. She shifted the phone to her other ear and asked, "Will you be coming over tonight? Mum actually missed not having you around last night."

"I'll think about it." Gen murmured. "I do need help on my Potions homework. So that's probably a yes."

"Oh, of course. Don't come unless you need something." Lily laughed. "Well, hurry over. I have all the time in the world to help you. And I haven't even started mine."

"That's a first." Gen laughed. "Be right over."

She quickly gathered her homework and things and set off to Lily's, feeling a bit better than she had that morning.


	25. Chapter 25

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 25

Gen was a little less than halfway to Lily's when she ran into the exact same people she did not want to see, and Remus was with them, too.

"What do you want?" she demanded of Sirius, completely ignoring James as she shifted her spell books from one arm to the other.

"To see how you're doing." James smiled. "And where you're going."

Gen continued to ignore them and made to brush past them, but Sirius grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Hey, don't walk off, Moore." he murmured. "That's quite rude."

"Well, I don't feel like speaking to you lot right now!" she snapped.

"Why not?" James demanded. Which caused him to receive a smack around the face once Gen wrestled herself free of Sirius's grip.

She turned and bent to pick up her fallen spell books, oblivious to James rubbing his cheek and staring at her in shock. She held her books to her chest and brushed by them, ignoring them all the way down the street.

She stopped once she cut the corner. And under the pretense of setting her books down and tying her shoes, she thought, 'Well, Potter, you deserved that. I should have smacked Black while I was at it.'

She huffed, brushed her bangs out of her eyes, gathered her books, and set off towards Lily's.

And was shocked to see Marci, Celeste, and Lily waiting for her on the porch.

"What's wrong, Moore?" Celeste asked, raising an eyebrow. "You look flustered."

"Hmph." Gen grumbled, flopped down on the porch and scowling.

"Run into Potter, or Black, or both of them?"

"I slapped Potter." Gen grumbled. "Black and Lupin were with him."

"Lupin now, is it? Not Remus, Reme, Remy-kins?" Celeste giggled. Then she swore loudly as she dodged Gen's heavy Potions book, which bounced harmlessly off the front door.

"Wow, never thought you'd be mad after slapping Potter." Celeste grumbled, picking up her book and hesitating before handing it back to her.

Gen sighed softly and wrapped her arms around her knees. "I just want to finish my homework in peace, OK?" she asked, sounding very close to tears.

"Yeah, let's get inside." Lily murmured, helping Marci to her feet.

The four girls were soon stretched out on Lily's bedroom floor, each working on a different subject. And each asking the other for help.

"Celeste, what's the answer to -- "

"I don't know, give me this answer -- "

"Wolfsbane does what Gen?"

"How should I know?"

"Your boyfriend's a werewolf."

"HE IS NOT -- "

"Stop screaming, this History of Magic is giving me a headache!"

"Who DOESN'T get a headache from History of Magic?" Celeste asked with a sigh, dropping her quill onto her book. "And who doesn't get a headache from Gen shouting?" she added with a giggle.

Gen glared at her before thumbing through her book for an answer to a question that had her completely stumped.

"I know this was mentioned at least six times during lessons..." she murmured, ending with a sigh.

"Give up, Gen?" Lily asked with a small smile.

"Yeah, pretty much." Gen groaned.

"Who can blame you?" Celeste sighed, getting up and stretching. "Homework over the summer! I ask you! Is there no end to those teachers and their bloody torture devices?"

"Homework is not a torture device." Lily said. But then she added, "You are right, though. The summer is not the time to do homework."

"Especially Potions." Gen grumbled.

"When is it ever time to do Potions homework?" Marci smiled.

"Never!" Gen said, deftly slamming her book shut and tossing it across the room. "Let's get out of here before my brain melts. We can do this later."

"Agreed." Celeste and Marci said together. "Let's go, Lils."

"Oh, alright." Lily murmured, slamming her book shut. "But what about running into -- "

"I don't care." Gen grumbled. "I'm in the mood to smack them around a bit anyway."

"And that's something I want to see." Celeste smirked.


	26. Chapter 26

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 26

"Why did she hit me?" James asked for what seemed to be the millionth time as he, Sirius, and Remus settled down in his living room. "What did I do?"

"Frankly, I thought she was aiming for me." Sirius shrugged, unphased by Gen's actions. And quite glad she had decided to take them out on someone else for once.

"Gen has better aim than that." James snapped, looking at his cheek in his mother's hand mirror. "What did I do?" he whined again.

"We can't answer for her, James." Remus pointed out. "So you'll have to ask her."

"Or get you to." James reminded him.

"I'm not getting into this." Remus said, backing away. "She's not hitting me for you, thank you!"

"She wouldn't hit you." Sirius grumbled. "She'd never."

Remus looked up at him, confused. He had no idea why Sirius would say such, or why he would sound so bitter.

But he did not get the chance to ask Sirius why. Instead, he was tackled by a black and white furball.

"Hey Figaro." he muttered, stroking the Kneazle's fur. "I guess you want to be my kitty today, hmm? I don't mind."

Sirius scowled at this, having grown very close to the Kneazle during holidays. But that was not the only reason why he was feeling anger towards Remus right now.

He turned his attention to James, who was frowning and lightly rubbing his cheek, which was still a rather bright red. He appeared to be paying no mind to Remus, Sirius, or his beloved Kneazle. He was rather hurt by Gen's anger towards him. For all he knew, he had done nothing to her.

"James, are you listening to me?" Remus asked, placing Figaro on the floor and getting to his feet.

"Guess not." James managed an apologetic smile. "What did you say?"

"Are we going to go find Gwendolyn so you can talk to her or not?"

"I'll send her an owl later." James muttered, waving his hand dismissively.

"Are you sure?" Remus asked, his eyebrows meeting in confusion. "Really, the quickest way of finding out is -- "

"She's probably at Evans's right now. And I know neither of them want me over there. So, no. I'll send her an owl later."

"Send it now, then."

Sirius looked at Remus, surprised. "You really want to know why she hit him, don't you?"

Remus shrugged, smiled, and said, "I have a natural curiosity."

Sirius rolled his eyes and muttered, "Something I would have said, mate. I think I'm rubbing off on you."

'Even though you should be rubbing off on me.' he added silently. Then he thought for a moment and shook his head. 'Even then, Moore wouldn't be attracted to me.'

He flopped down on the couch, looking sour. He even ignored Figaro when he curled up on his lap, purring loudly.

The summer holidays were nearly done. And the only thing really left for them to do was to start summer homework. And Sirius, at least, was not that bored yet.

Besides, he was sure Remus was done. He could copy his if need be.

Or James would be willing to share.

What he really wanted was to get out of the house. And not go somewhere they had been going all summer. But he could think of no place that he had not been at the present moment. Besides Peter's, but he was not that desperate to find a place to go. His mother had recently separated from his father and was crying her eyes out nearly every day over it.

Which, at least, explained Peter's absence.

He groaned inwardly and thought 'Man, this summer is turning out to be pretty boring. Moore apparently hates us, spends her time avoiding us, and we've, well, for us, really got nothing done. What can we do in these last couple weeks...?'


	27. Chapter 27

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 27

"That's my feet, Jacques!"

Gen brushed her black hair out of her face and crossed the room to the nearest empty chair. She slid off her high heeled shoes and began to rub her feet, all the while glaring in Jacques's direction.

Jacques said nothing, instead crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the wall. He was not happy with her sudden attitude towards him. But there was not much he could do about it.

Gen sighed, shook her head, took her hair out of its ponytail and redid it. 'Better get this over with.' she thought.

She made her way to Jacques and offered her hand, which he readily took.

"Watch my feet this time." Gen said softly. "Wait."

She kicked off her shoes and managed a tiny smile. "I think I can move better barefoot. Not much difference in our heights anyway."

"Dinner tonight, Gwendolyn?" he asked, taking her hand in his, the other resting on her waist.

"Not tonight, no." She racked her brains for an excuse. "Homework."

Which wasn't exactly wrong.

"You have summer homework?" Jacques asked, raising an eyebrow as he began to lead her in a foxtrot.

Gen nodded, her gaze resting on his feet.

"Up." he told her, putting his hand under her chin.

Gen caught herself smiling faintly. And was very unsure why.

But then she found herself thinking, 'I wonder if Remus dances. Probably not. I don't think it would fit him.'

She giggled at the thought, which caused Jacques to raise his eyebrow again. "What's so funny?" he demanded, letting go of her hand and holding her at arm's length.

"Nothing." Gen smiled. "What time is it?"

Jacques glanced at his watch and said, "4:30. Why? Do you have a date tonight?"

"Homework date." Gen smiled.

She crossed the room and tossed her shoes and hairbrush in her back, taking out her other shoes and slipping them on. She tossed her bag over her shoulder and smiled. "See you around."

She bounded out of the studio and down the street in a very happy mood. And very unsure why. But she did not question it.

But she did question the large owl that fluttered down in front of her, offering her a letter. She glanced around, making sure no one else was around before taking the letter in its beak and waiting for it to fly off before tearing it open.

She scoffed and crumpled it, placing it in her pocket. She wanted to throw it away, but would not do it.

"James, James, James." she sighed.

She hitched her bag and set off for Lily's in a run, very determined not to run into James or anyone. By the time she was halfway there, a peal of thunder sounded.

"Great." she sighed. Her good mood was now gone.

She was soaked to the skin when Lily finally answered the door.

"Why didn't you call?" she demanded, leading Gen upstairs so she could change.

"It wasn't raining when I left." Gen answered through chattering teeth. She changed and snuggled up on the floor, bundled under blankets.

"Nice night for hot chocolate." Lily smiled. "Marci and Celeste were supposed to come over. I'm not expecting them to now, though."

"They might." Gen murmured sleepily.

"Aw, stay awake, Gwen. We need to finish our Potions."

"I'll do it in the morning." Gen muttered. She rubbed her cheek against the blanket and sighed softly. She was happy to be getting some rest. She did not feel as angry as she did a little while ago.

"Hey, Lily."

Lily glanced at Gen and asked, "You're in the mood for hot chocolate?" She had a teasing smile on her face.

"No, I'm in the mood to sleep. But look in the pocket of those shorts I was wearing. Tell me I don't have the right to not be mad at James."

Lily fumbled through Gen's pockets and found the letter from James. She read it, then reread it and glanced at Gen. She sighed, shaking her head at the sight of the sleeping Gen. "No, you don't." she muttered. "But you're going to anyway, aren't you?"


	28. Chapter 28

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 28

"I can't believe Gen's mad at James." Marci said softly. She, Celeste, and Lily were sitting on Lily's porch while Gen slept in.

"I can't believe Lily's taking up for Potter. Are you developing a soft spot for him?" Celeste asked.

Lily blushed and looked away angrily. "I am not. I just don't want Gen to ruin her friendship with him over something so small and stupid."

"It's not small and stupid!" Marci said, staring at her in astonishment. "How can you say that? The fact that he blabbed to Black, the boy who is borderline obsessed. So, small and stupid? I think not!"

"You insulted Black!" Celeste said, reaching over to check to see if Marci had a fever. "What is the world coming to? Am I the only same one left?"

"No, we're all still perfectly sane. I think." Lily sighed. "Look, read this. Can you honestly tell me you don't feel sorry for the poor guy?" She withdrew James's letter from her pocket and handed it to Celeste.

"Hey, I can't blame her for being mad. He does seem as though he's trying to act like he didn't do anything."

"He might not have known he's done something." Lily countered hotly.

Celeste and Marci exchanged a look. One that they were glad Lily did not see.

"How about we leave this alone, hmm?" Marci asked weakly. She realized that Lily and Celeste were not going to stop fighting about this unless she stepped in. "Let's go wake Gwennie up and go find something to do."

"I hate to say it," Celeste whispered to her as the three of them headed inside and to Lily's room, "but I'm going to be glad to see Hogwarts."

"Me too." Marci mouthed.

Gen had not moved from the spot on the floor where she curled up the night before. "Gen?" Lily began timidly.

But Celeste nudged Gen with her foot. "You're not sleeping all day, Gwennie! Come on, get up and help us find something to do."

"No," Gen murmured, "don't wanna."

"Yes, you wanna." Celeste said, reaching over for Lily's pillow. "Now come on, Gwendolyn Elizabeth Moore. Get up or we'll make you."

Gen merely burrowed herself deeper into her blankets.

Celeste sighed, acting as though she weren't about to enjoy herself. Then she leaned back and whacked Gen as hard as she could with Lily's pillow.

Gen merely burrowed as far as she could under the blankets without getting under Lily's bed.

"Come on..." Marci whispered, getting on her knees next to her cousin. "Come on, we'll let you smack Potter and Black around if we see them."

Gen opened one eye lazily. "I can?" she murmured softly.

"Yes, you can." Marci said with a smile.

"Fine." Gen sighed, getting to her feet and wrapped the blanket tightly around her. "Let me change and we can go find something to do."

A few minutes later, the four of them were aimlessly wandering around London. There was not much they could think of to do. They had finished their school shopping and were not so bored yet as to finish their homework.

"Want to do some shopping?" Marci asked as they passed a jewelery store.

Gen waved her hand dismissively, but Celeste made her way into the shop. Gen and Lily sighed softly and continued on their merry way. Marci glanced after them before following Celeste into the shop.

"Them and shopping. You and Quidditch. What does that leave me with?"

"James?" Gen asked with a small smile.

"Ha ha." Lily muttered sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why won't you forgive him? Is it really, honestly, and truly that bad that Sirius knows you fancy Remus?"

"Yes, yes it is. And it's even worse that James LIED to me and said he would keep his mouth shut." Gen said, crossing her own arms over her chest.

"What if he didn't mean to say anything?"

"Oh, he meant to." Gen muttered. "Look, keep up with them and keep an eye on them. I'm going back to bed."

Lily watched her go, shaking her head. 'She's so stubborn. But I'm sure we can get over this. I hope.'


	29. Chapter 29

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 29

James was stretched out on his bedroom floor, Figaro resting on his back. He and Sirius had finally settled in and decided to do their homework.

But he could not concentrate. Between his Kneazle sharpening his claws on his back and the fact that he had no idea why Gen hated him so suddenly, his parchment remained blank. While, on the bed, Sirius was happily writing away.

"What do you have?" James asked finally.

"What?" Sirius asked, glancing at him. "Oh. Here." He handed James his parchment and waited patiently for him to copy it.

"Now that Sluggy's homework is done, what's up?"

"What do you mean?" James asked, setting his parchment aside to dry.

"You aren't yourself, mate." Sirius said as Figaro hopped off James's back and onto the bed with him. "What's going through your mind?"

"Ah, just trying to figure out what I've done to Moore to make her hate me."

"Ah, she's mental, though. She doesn't NEED a reason to hate you." Sirius pointed out, rolling over on his back and letting Figaro crawl onto his stomach.

"True," James muttered, "but she's never gotten mad at ME. She's got all the reason in the world to hate the ground YOU walk on."

"Thanks a lot." Sirius grumbled.

James ignored that. He sat up and yawned before stretching and getting to his feet. "Wonder if Mum went shopping like she said she would." he muttered, heading into the kitchen with Sirius, Figaro, and about a half dozen more Kneazles following behind.

"Yes!" James whispered, opening the cabinets and finding himself face-to-face with a pile of sweets. "Want any?" he asked, digging through the pile in search of Licorice Wands and Ice Mice.

"You know I do." Sirius said, joining him in digging through the candy.

The two of them carried an armful of sweets back to James's room and dumped it on the bed. Figaro politely hopped into the middle of the pile, purring loudly.

Sirius watched in amusement as James pulled out a couple bags of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and opened it, placing a lime green one in front of his Kneazle. Figaro sniffed it, then ate it quickly. He turned back to James, purring louder than ever.

"He eats those?" Sirius asked in disbelief.

"He sure does." James said, stroking Figaro between the ears. He began to eat his Licorice Wands while putting the occasional Bean in front of his cat.

Sirius sat on the bed, shaking his head. "I can't believe he eats those."

"He's weird." James agreed.

By the time they finished their snacking, their essays were dried. Which left them with nothing to do. They had finished their homework, having saved Potions for last, and were bored out of their skulls.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but, I think I'll be glad when we get back to Hogwarts." Sirius said softly.

"Same here." James agreed. "There's just... no excitement around here, you know?"

"So true." Sirius flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Figaro, bored with eating Every Flavour Beans, crawled onto his chest and made himself ready to go to sleep. Sirius rolled his eyes at the cat and turned his attention to James.

"NOW what are you thinking?" he demanded.

"I was thinking of borrowing Mum's owl for a bit." James said, sounding distracted.

"I'll owl her!" Sirius offered, sitting up quickly and sending Figaro into the pile of wrappers.

James could not help shaking his head. "Fine, then. Owl her. And don't come crying to me when you get a Howler in response."

"I won't cry." Sirius laughed. "I'm too... yeah, I won't cry."

James rolled his eyes as Sirius got to his feet and flopped down at his desk chair, pulling parchment, a quill, and some ink towards him. "Now, then," Sirius began, turning to James, "what do you want me to ask her?"

"What I did, for one." James said, sitting down at the bed and scowling.

"OK..." Sirius scribbled a few lines, then glanced at James, expectantly. "Oh!" he turned back to the parchment and wrote a few lines before James could open his mouth.

"Anything else?"

"Nothing I can think of." James said, getting to his feet and heading into his parents' room to get his mother's owl. "So, cross your fingers and hope you don't get a Howler back."


	30. Chapter 30

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 30

James and Sirius did not have long to wait as his mother's owl landed on James's window, a small reply held fast in its beak.

"That was quick." James muttered, getting to his feet and hurrying to the window. He flung it open and his mother's owl dropped the letter it was carrying and flew off to his parents' room.

"And it's not a Howler." Sirius said, watching James unroll the parchment.

"Were you really expecting one?"

"Honestly?" Sirius asked. "Yes."

James managed a half smile, but immediately scowled as he took in Lily's handwriting. And the short note telling him not to send any more owls to them for the rest of the summer.

Granted, that wasn't long, but he was confused. And would have liked an answer.

He sighed and dropped the parchment on the floor. "Want to go to Diagon Alley?" he asked Sirius, wanting to get out of the house.

"I see no reason why not." Sirius replied, not bothering to question the reply that Lily had sent. "Got any money? I'm almost broke."

"Of course." James replied. "I was honestly thinking of buying a new broom, but we'll see what happens, hmm?"

"Yeah. May as well stop by Gringotts while we're at at." Sirius said with a frown as he slipped on his shoes and waited patiently for James.

"I'm coming." James muttered, reaching for his own shoes, his fingers hesitating towards his brush. Then he shrugged. Didn't help much anyway.

"Now then..." Sirius began a few minutes later as they found themselves in The Leaky Cauldron, "what is the reason for coming here? To get out of the house... or to hopefully run into a couple certain girls our age?"

James shrugged again. He really wanted out of the house, but he could not honestly say that that was the only reason he wanted to go to Diagon Alley.

But the girls were not in the ice cream shop, nor the pet store, nor the Quidditch supply shop. James could not say he was not disappointed, but Sirius would have made a case about it if he had. So he kept quiet.

And all the time, he was wondering exactly what he had done to Gen.

"You think... " he began slowly, shouldering his new broom.

"I think what?" Sirius asked, looking at him out of the corner of his eye. "I think a lot of things, mate."

"I was just trying to figure out what was on Gen's mind -- "

"I think we need to figure HER out first."

"Do you think it's because I told you about her little thing for Remus?"

Sirius stopped in his tracks, scowling. "Not unless she had sworn you to secrecy."

"She had..." James began slowly. "But Celeste overheard. So... does that really make it count? I mean, had I not said anything, surely it would have gotten around. You know how Celeste spreads things."

Sirius nodded slowly. "I don't see it being that, really, but with Gen? It could be anything."

"That's true." James said with a weary sigh. "Gen can get upset over anything. But it's not like it's intentional." he added quickly.

Sirius glanced at James, then shook his head slowly. "James, you do realize you take up for her more than you've ever taken up for me?" he asked, a note of fake jealousy in his voice.

James gasped. "No!"

"Yes!"

"I'm sorry." James muttered, trying to play along without laughing. "But she's... and you're... and I am... OK... I've lost myself. What were you saying?"

"I was saying you take up for Moore a whole lot." Sirius began with a smug look on his face.

"It means nothing!" James argued. "She NEEDS someone to take up for her!"

"And I don't?" Sirius asked, sounding hurt for real this time.

James groaned. "Fine, I'll take up for you both this year. Happy?"

"If she's speaking to you." Sirius pointed out.

"Don't remind me." James muttered. If anything, he was certain that Gen would want nothing to do with him, especially if her silent treatment was because of him blabbing to Sirius.


	31. Chapter 31

Every Man For Himself

Chapter 31

The four girls were over at Lily's place, throwing things into their trunks that they would need the next morning.

"Tell Jacques good-bye?" Lily asked Gen as she folded her robes and stuffed them into her trunk.

"No." Gen said. "But I did tell Anabelle."

"Aww." Celeste and Marci cooed together, but the two of them quickly dove out of the way of Gen's oncoming Potions book.

"Did you ever finish your Potions homework?" Celeste asked sweetly, handing Gen her book back, for once without making an effort to strike her.

"No."

"Figures." Celeste rolled her eyes. And as she did, something at the bottom of her trunk caught her attention. She dove down to pick whatever it was up before she forgot about it and started piling things on top of it.

"Hey!" she said softly, holding up a thin silver ring. "I've been looking for this. Wonder what else is in there?"

"Well, look." Marci told her. "Honestly, why haven't you realized that whatever you can't find tends to find a home at the bottom of your trunk?"

Celeste did not answer. A quick gaze in her direction showed that she had basically dove headfirst into her trunk and was digging around.

The other three girls were soon thankfully that they were not behind her as several small objects went flying over her shoulders.

Lily shook her head sadly and finished folding her robes. Her trunk, at least, was piled neatly together. Gen and Marci's were half empty. And Celeste was still in hers.

Gen was attempting to straighten her things before putting them in her trunk, but she, unlike the others, had to make room for her broom as well. Eventually, she wound up tossing things in her trunk over her shoulder, careful not to smash her ink.

She could sort it out at the school.

If she did not fall asleep first.

"Say, Gwennie," Celeste asked, peeking up from over her trunk, "what are you going to do about Quidditch?"

"Hmm?"

"You hate James, so what are you going to do?"

"I don't hate him," Gen began, "just can't trust him anymore." She reached over for her brushed and began to brush her hair and watch as the other three finished packing.

"And I still think you're not the brightest for doing that." Celeste told her.

"I thought I could." Gen shrugged.

She pulled her hair back and changed into her pajamas. "First one done packing, first one dressed, I get the bed!" she called, pouncing on Lily's bed.

But she was immediately pounced on by the other three, each wanting Lily's bed rather than sleeping on the floor.

Celeste won that little scrap. The other three, covered in feathers from a burst pillow, admitted defeat and curled up on the floor, glad to be going back to school the following morning.

While they slept, James and Sirius were scrambling around the house, trying to be quiet at that as James's parents were sleeping.

With no explanation how, the found James's broom under his bed, Sirius's watch in a kitchen drawer, James's stolen Snitch from inside a vase, and Figaro from inside the chimney.

"How did he -- ?"

James shrugged as he clung to his soot covered kitty. He carried Figaro to his room, followed by Sirius. The two of them had someone managed to mix their things together. And James did not feel like solving it that night.

"Let's just pack it all. We'll fix it at Hogwarts." James said with a yawn. Sirius agreed. He began piling things into his trunk, as James did his.

"That it?" Sirius asked in what seemed like no time at all.

"Should be. If not, we'll have Mum send it. I want to go to sleep."

"Same."

The two settled down for bed, James had his face buried in his pillow. "Hey, Padfoot?"

"Yeah?" Sirius asked, stretching out on his back.

"Do you think Gen'll speak to me again?"

"Of course. She'll have to, won't she? Quidditch."

"Right, right." James said, rolling over on his back as well. "Pity we couldn't get either of them this summer." he added sleepily.

"Yeah. We have the whole year, though." Sirius said with a yawn.

"Hear, hear!"


End file.
